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WHAT  COULD  GERMANY  DO 
FOR  IRELAND? 


Then  first  will  be  born  the  Millennium  of  Peace— 

And,  oh!  what  a  garland  will  bloom  in  the  sun 
When  the  oak-leaf  of  Deutschland,  the  olive  of  Greece 
And  the  trefoil  of  Ireland  are  blended  in  one! 

James  Clarexce  Mangav. 
1803-1849 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 

in  2009  with  funding  from 

Boston  Library  Consortium  Member  Libraries 


http://www.archive.org/details/whatcouldgermanyOOmcgu 


What  Could  Germany 
Do  For  Ireland? 


BY 

JAMES  K.  McGUIRE 

Author  of 
lThe  King,  the  Kaiser  and  Irish  Freedom.'' * 


With  Introduction  by 
DR.  THOMAS  ADDIS  EMMET 


BOSTON  COLLEGE  LIBRARY 
CHESTNUT  HILL,  MA88, 

NEW  YORK 

WOLFE  TONE  COMPANY 

1916 


PV35 

^,3 


Copyright,  1916 
By  WOLFE  TONE  COMPANY 


-1.69563 


Dedicated  to  the  Memory  of 

STofm  iHttcjel 

Centenary 
1815  November  22  1915 

The  imperishable  names  of  all  patriots  enshrined  in 
American  hearts  are  those  of  men  and  women  who  dared 
face  and  contest,  in  the  name  of  liberty,  hostile  majorities 
at  home  and  abroad.  John  Mitchel  resembled  Thomas 
Jefferson  in  that  his  writings  remain  the  greatest  force  in 
his  country  for  the  perpetuation  of  the  spirit  of  freedom. 

Sentenced  to  fourteen  years  imprisonment  (1848)  to 
the  convict  colony  of  Van  Diemens  Land,  he  writes  from 
his  cell  in  Newgate  Prison:  "For  me,  I  abide  my  fate 
joyfully;  for  I  know  that,  whatever  betide  me,  my  work  is 
nearly  done.  I  thank  God  for  it.  The  liberty  of  Ireland 
may  come  sooner  or  later,  by  peaceful  negotiation  or 
bloody  conflict,  but  it  is  sure.  The  day  is  coming  of 
retribution  and  the  world  will  hear  the  crash  of  the  down- 
fall of  the  British  Empire." 


CONTENTS 


INTRODUCTION 17 

PREFACE 31 

CHAPTER  I 

THE  GAELIC  RENAISSANCE 35 

What  the  Gaelic  Renaissance  stands  for. — Neces- 
sity for  racial  unity  and  conservation. — National- 
ism not  Socialism  present  key-note  of  interna- 
tional affairs. — Ireland's  part  in  the  War. — 
Industrial  prosperity  to  arise  from  development 
of  agriculture  and  manufactures. — Improvement 
of  social  conditions  essential. — How  Connemara 
may  be  saved. — Economic  lessons  from  Germany. 
— How  the  Irish  outside  Ireland  may  help. 

CHAPTER  II 

IRELAND  AT  THE  CROSSROADS 39 

Where  the  heart  of  the  British  Empire  lies. — 
Possession  of  Egypt  and  Asia-Minor  vital  to  Brit- 
ain's over-seas  dominions. — Asia-Minor  in  the 
light  of  history. — Napoleon's  efforts  to  disrupt 
the  British  Empire  defeated  by  Anglo-Turkish  Al- 
liance.— British  diplomatic  failures  in  1915. — 
How  the  Germanic-Turkish  Alliance  imperils  the 
solidarity  of  the  British  Empire. — The  Turks  as 
fighters. — The  Anglo-French  disasters  at  the  Dar- 
danelles.— Overthrow  of  Russia  as  a  European 
Power. — Resurrection  of  the  ancient  Kingdom  of 
Poland. — How  Ireland  received  the  news  of  Brit- 
ish military  and  naval  failures. — The  effect  on 
the  hopes  of  the  Irish  people. — How  a  German- 
Irish  Alliance  would  ensure  European  Peace. — 
The  poverty  of  Ireland  attributable  to  the  Eng- 
lish occupation. — King  George's  appeal. — The  des- 
perate plight  of  England. — Irish  relations  to  Eng- 

7 


8  Contents 

land  in  the  light  of  history. — Richness  of  Irish 
resources. — What  Germany  could  do  for  Irish 
independence  and  prosperity. 

CHAPTER  III 

IEISH  HOPES  IN  GERMANY  OR  ENGLAND  f 54 

Impossibility  of  German  defeat  by  the  Allies. — 
The  elimination  of  Russia  as  a  factor  in  the  east- 
ern theatre. — The  campaign  of  1915  contrasted 
with  Napoleon's  invasion  of  Russia. — British 
prophecies  of  Russian  triumph  falsified. — Ireland 
and  Poland. — How  the  two  kingdoms  stand 
towards  each  other. — Irish  sympathies  with  Ger- 
many.— The  Irish  Nationalist  press  of  America 
favors  Germany. — The  reign  of  terror  in  Ireland. 
— Failure  of  recruiting. — How  England  slanders 
other  nations. — Increase  in  England's  standing 
army  of  occupation  in  Ireland. — Why  some  Irish- 
men join  England's  army. — Dr.  Thomas  Addis 
Emmet  and  England's  brutal  rule  in  Ireland. — The 
destruction  of  Irish  industries. — The  fate  of 
Sligo. — Housing  conditions  in  Ireland. — Irish  and 
German  conditions  contrasted. — The  passing  of 
"Home  Rule." — Ireland  to  review  her  position. — 
German  treatment  of  Poland  a  lesson  to  all  small 
nations. — How  Ireland  remains  true  to  her  tradi- 
tions.— The  efficiency  of  German  organization. — 
Ireland's  immunity  from  attack  by  Germany.^ — 
How  Ireland  regards  Germany. — The  true  sig- 
nificance of  German-Irish  understanding. 

CHAPTER  IV 

THE  REAL  ROOTS  OF  GERMAN  SUCCESS 84 

Bismarck's  conception  of  the  State  in  respect  to 
the  worker. — How  Germany  protects  her  people 
socially. — English  Acts  based  on  German  models. 
— German  social  legislation. — Bismarck's  concep- 
tion of  German  superiority  fulfilled. — Physical 
disabilities  of  the  English  workers. — English  un- 
preparedness  a  revelation  to  mankind. — Her 
cocksuredness  proved  her  undoing. — The  lesson 
to  Ireland. 


Contents  9 

CHAPTER  V 

THE  STATE  OR  THE  INDIVIDUAL? 96 

A  War  of  two  civilizations. — The  English  and 
German  concepts  of  civilization  compared. — Eng- 
land ever  the  foe  of  true  democracy. — Her  treat- 
ment of  Persia,  Korea,  and  Morocco. — Voluntary 
enlistment  contrasted  with  universal  service. — 
The  strength  of  national  solidarity. — Germany's 
economic  strength  after  a  year  of  war. — English 
jealousy  of  German  efficiency. — What  Ireland 
lacks  Germany  can  supply. 

CHAPTER  VI 

THE  GATEWAY  OF  EUROPE 115 

Ireland,  the  Gateway  of  Europe. — Admiral 
Mahan's  conception  of  Ireland's  strategical  situa- 
tion.— Her  geographical  position  in  Europe. — 
England's  lordship  of  the  high  seas  dependent  on 
possession  of  Ireland. — Ireland  not  physically 
connected  with  Great  Britain. — The  area  and  phy- 
sical characteristics  of  the  island. — The  spacious 
harbors  of  Ireland. — The  position  of  Korea  and 
Ireland  contrasted. — The  occupation  of  Ireland  by 
Germany  would  cause  England's  downfall. — War 
demonstrated  Ireland's  commanding  position  in 
Europe. — Effectiveness  of  German  submarine  war- 
fare off  Irish  coasts. — The  English  conception  of 
Ireland's  importance  to  the  British  Empire. — 
Napoleon's  view  on  Ireland's  position. — Danish, 
French  and  Spanish  efforts  in  Ireland. — Im- 
portance of  control  of  North  Atlantic  approaches 
to  Europe. — England's  peril  from  starvation. — Ire- 
land as  a  food-producing  country  and  as  a  center 
of  recruitment  for  the  English  armed  forces. — 
Ireland's  liberation  from  English  thraldom  will 
mean  the  setting  of  the  sun  on  the  British  Empire. 

CHAPTER  VII 

IRISH  AGRICULTURAL  PROSPECTS 128 

The  English  occupation  of  Ireland. — Her  attitude 
towards  Irish  economic  developments. — Irish  ays- 


10  Contents 

tern  of  agriculture,  fostered  by  England,  uneco- 
nomic and  backward. — Scientific  farming  un- 
known.— Ireland's  dependence  on  America  for  her 
daily  bread. — Irish  linen  mills  dependent  on  for- 
eign countries  for  flax  supplies. — The  richness 
of  the  Irish  soil. — Possible  agricultural  develop- 
ments.— Beet-growing  and  sugar  refining. — How 
German  science  backed  by  American  capital  could 
develop  Ireland. — Cattle  multiplying,  human  be- 
ings dying. — Wretched  lot  of  agricultural  la- 
borers.— The  spread  of  cattle  ranches  eliminates 
small  proprietors. — What  Germany  has  accom- 
plished for  her  agriculturalists. — How  German 
methods  may  improve  Irish  farming. 

CHAPTER  VIII 

MEATS  AND  PROVISIONS 140 

How  cattle;  have  displaced,  men  in  Ireland. — 
Destruction  of  the  Irish  dairying  industry. — The 
raising  of  "lean"  cattle  an  economic  weakness. — 
How  the  fertility  of  the  soil  is  depreciated. — Ab- 
sence of  abattoirs  in  Ireland. — How  the  dressed 
meat  industry  would  change  agricultural  condi- 
tions in  Ireland. — Its  effect  on  the  industrial  life 
of  the  country. — The  establishment  of  leather  and 
subsidiary  industries. — How  Irish-American  capi- 
tal and  experience  can  help  Ireland  to  better 
living. 

CHAPTER  IX 

RECLAMATION  AND  REFORESTATION 148 

The  health  of  the  Irish  people. — How  it  is  affected. 
Findings  of  Royal  Commission  on  Arterial  Drain- 
age.— Extent  of  waste  land  in  Ireland. — The 
operations  of  the  bogs  of  Ireland. — How  the 
floodings  of  the  Shannon,  Barrow  and  other  rivers 
impede  agriculture. — The  loss  to  the  country 
through  neglected  waste-lands. — Royal  Commis- 
sions impeach  British  Government  of  neglect. — 
Reclamation  financially  successful. — What  rec- 
lamation has  done  for  Europe. — How  the  Govern- 
ments of  Holland,  France,  Germany,  Hungary  and 


Contents  11 

Austria  have  dealt  with  the  problem. — The 
urgency  of  the  problem  to  Ireland. — Need  for 
afforestation. — English  purposeful  neglect  of  Irish 
resources. — Deserted  and  neglected  appearance  of 
the  countryside. — English  tree-planting  in  India. 
— The  example  of  Les  Landes  in  France. — What 
Germany  has  accomplished  with  silviculture. — 
How  the  Irish  Parliament  before  the  Union  dealt 
with  the  problem. — Wealth  derivable  from  tree- 
culture. — Effects  of  forests  on  soils,  climates,  etc. 
— Subsidiary  industries  likely  to  arise. — Need  for 
statesmanship  in  solving  Irish  problems. — Ger- 
man methods. 


CHAPTER  X 

PORTLAND  CEMENT  MILLS •.    166 

Ireland's  immense  deposits  of  limestones  and  mar- 
bles.— The  growing  use  of  cement. — Only  one  small 
factory  in  Ireland. — The  industry  discouraged  by 
English  officials  in  Ireland. — How  Irish  railways 
cripple  Irish  industrial  enterprises. — Suitable  dis- 
tricts in  Ireland  for  erection  of  cement  mills. — 
The  future  of  acetylene  gas  generated  from  cal- 
cium carbide  a  product  of  limestone. — Need  for 
capital  in  Ireland. 

CHAPTER  XI 

POWER  AND  FUEL 169 

Importance  of  power  and  fuel  in  industrial  en- 
terprises.— Attitude  of  English  rulers  to  Ireland's 
power  and  fuel  resources. — England's  coal  and 
iron  resources  the  basic  of  her  industrial  pre- 
eminence.— How  Belgium,  Holland  and  Switzer- 
land confound  British  theory. — Swiss  prosperity 
built  up  on  the  use  of  her  available  water-power. 
— Ireland's  unbridled  water-power. — The  rainfall 
in  Ireland. — Available  horsepower  of  the  country. 
— The  river  Shannon's  horsepower  at  Killaloe. — ■ 
Position  and  power  of  Irish  rivers  favorable  to 
extensive  industrial  activities. — Cheapness  of 
power,  a  factor  of  importance  in  production. — 
The  turbine  engine. — The  production  of  electricity 


12  Contents 

both  cheap  and  easy. — England  underestimates 
Ireland's  coal  resources. — Report  to  Geological 
Congress  at  Toronto. — Professor  Hull's  estimate. 
— Need  for  scientific  survey  of  Ireland. — Output 
of  coal  in  Ireland. — The  area  and  position  of  the 
Wolfhill  Colliery.— The  Castlecomer  Colliery.— 
The  Arigna  coal  and  iron  mines. — Their  develop- 
ment impeded  by  lack  of  transit  facilities. — The 
English  Houses  of  Parliament  controlled  by  Eng- 
lish coal-owners. — How  Irish  coal-mining  is  ob- 
structed.— The  duty  of  an  Irish  Government. — 
The  due  development  of  the  coal  fields  as  sources 
of  wealth,  of  fuel,  of  power,  of  employment  for  the 
future  Irish  nation. 


CHAPTER  XII 

THE  PEAT  RESOURCES  OF  IRELAND 188 

The  true  gold  mines  of  Ireland. — English  neglect 
of  Irish  peat  resources. — How  distinguished  Irish- 
men view  Ireland's  peat  bogs. — Their  area. — Irish 
climatic,  labor  and  general  conditions  favorable  to 
development  of  peat  fuel. — The  suitability  of 
Shannon  district  for  such  development. — Peat  fuel 
compared  with  coal. — Ireland's  annual  coal  bill. — 
Col.  Warburton's  scheme. — Subsidiary  industries 
that  would  arise. — How  Germany  has  developed 
her  waste  and  peat  lands. — Their  importance  to 
the  Empire. — A  lesson  to  Ireland. 

CHAPTER  XIII 

THE  IKISH  FISHERIES 201 

Ireland  buys  her  fish  supplies  from  England,  why  T 
— The  Irish  naturally  sailors. — The  records  of 
English  and  American  navies  cited. — British  rule 
cause  of  all  Irish  economic  ills. — Ireland's  success- 
ful fisheries  in  olden  days. — The  Dutch  fishing 
fleet  in  Irish  waters. — Spanish  fishers  off  Irish 
coasts. — English,  Scotch  and  French  trawlers  now 
reap  the  harvests  of  the  Irish  seas. — The  tragic  de- 
cline in  Irish  fisheries. — The  Irish  language 
passing  with  the  dying  Irish  fishermen. — The  de- 
struction of   Irish   fishing  industry  by  English- 


Contents  13 

made  laws. — Untold  wealth  awaiting  Irish  people 
in  the  deep-sea  fisheries  off  Irish  coasts. — The 
rich  salmon  fisheries  of  Irish  rivers. — Markets  for 
fish  in  both  Germany  and  America. — Require- 
ments of  Irish  fishers. — Power  boats,  modern  gear, 
curing  station,  capital,  transit  facilities,  piers 
and  harbors. — How  Queenstown  could  build  up  a 
paying  industry  for  her  citizens  now  idle  through 
boycott  of  port  by  English  shipping. — How  Ger- 
many and  other  countries  have  dealt  with  the 
question. 

CHAPTER  XIV 

IRELAND  IN  OLDEN  DAYS 216 

World  ignorance  of  Ireland  result  of  studied  Eng- 
lish policy. — Ancient  Irish  civilization. — The  earl- 
iest inhabitants  of  Ireland. — Ireland's  former  ex- 
tensive external  trade. — Irish  intercourse  with 
Europe — National  love  of  learning. — Scotland  and 
England  Christianized  by  Irish. — Irish  seats  of 
learning  founded  in  capitals  of  chief  European  na- 
tions.— English  wilful  destruction  of  Irish  records. 
— Why  Europe  should  know  and  remember  Irish 
history. — What  Germany  has  done  for  Ireland's 
language. — Dr.  Kuno  Meyer's  researches  and 
labors  for  the  Irish  language. — The  irony  of  Fate. 
— Descendants  of  landlords  who  harassed  the 
Irish  in  Ireland,  now  being  sacrificed  by  England 
on  the  continental  battle-fields. — Importance  of 
reviving  the  ancient  Celtic  civilization. 

CHAPTER  XV 

IRELAND  UNDER  IRISH  PARLIAMENTS 231 

Prior  to  1800  A.  D.  Ireland  ruled  by  laws  made 
by  Parliaments  in  Ireland. — The  political  Union 
with  England  brought  about  by  most  brutal 
methods. — The  Great  Feis  at  Tara. — Poyning's 
Law. — The  Parliament  of  James  the  Second  at 
Dublin,  1689. — Grattan's  Parliament. — How  the 
French  Revolution  affected  the  destiny  of  Ireland. 
— England's  admitted  inability  and  unprepared- 
ness  a  factor  in  winning  Free  Trade  and  a  free 


14  Contents 

Parliament  for  Ireland. — The  birth  and  growth  of 
the  first  Irish  Volunteers. — The  Declaration  of 
Irish  Independence. — England's  Act  of  Renuncia- 
tion of  1782. — The  phenomenal  progress  of  Ire- 
land down  to  1800. — The  lesson  for  the  men  of 
today. 

CHAPTER  XVI 

THE  WORLD 's  RECORD  BROKEN  IN  FINANCE ....    242 

Germany's  domestic  achievements  during  the  war 
as  remarkable  as  her  military  triumphs. — The 
wonderful  stability  of  the  German  Empire  after  a 
year  of  unparalleled  warfare. — The  financial  in- 
solvency of  the  Allies. — American  bankers  and 
munition  makers  financing  the  Allies. — Hostility 
of  the  American  public  to  the  Allies'  war  loan. — 
Successful  issue  of  Germany's  third  domestic  war 
loan. — A  triumph  in  finance. — Failure  of  English 
civil  heads  in  domestic  statesmanship. — Germany's 
trained  civilian  leaders. — Why  Germany  can  fight 
indefinitely. — National  solidarity  of  German  peo- 
ples during  the  war. — Financial  support  freely 
offered  by  Germans  for  support  of  the  cause  of  the. 
Fatherland. — The  value  to  Germany  of  the  cap- 
tured territories. — What  Ireland  has  to  learn  from 
Germany. 

CHAPTER  XVII 

NEW  LIGHT  ON  THE  CAUSES  OF  THE  WAR 255 

England's  misrepresentation  of  the  origin  of  the 
war. — How  England  wages  war. — The  Franco-Rus- 
sian Alliance  aimed  at  Germany. — The  Entente 
aimed  at  Germany's  isolation  in  Europe. — Eng- 
land's secret  understanding  with  Belgium. — Her 
failure  to  protect  Belgium  on  the  outbreak  of  hos- 
tilities.— English  labor  opinion  on  the  origin  of 
the  conflict. — English  hypocrisy  unmasked. — Eng- 
land's efforts  to  promote  an  Anglo-American  Al- 
liance.— England's  feverish  jealousy  of  Germany. 
— Her  naval  and  military  budgets. — How  Irish 
good  nature  was  imposed  upon  at  outbreak  of 
hostilities. — The    cry    of    "Avenge    Catholic    Bel- 


Contents  15 

gium"  no  longer  effective. — How  Germany  stood 
with  Austria. — What  Ireland  may  learn  from 
study  of  the  situation. 

CHAPTER  XVIII 

HOPES  AND  FEAKS 274 

Why  England's  difficulty  is  Ireland's  opportunity. 
— The  old  gospel  of  Irish  nationalism. — Ireland's 
hour  of  destiny  at  hand. — What  the  tragic  decay 
of  her  people  and  the  neglect  of  her  country  should 
teach  Ireland. — The  patriot  Davitt's  views  on 
Freedom. — The  cardinal  doctrine  of  Irish  nation- 
ality.— The  teachings  and  sacrifices  of  the  Young 
Irelanders. — The  Irish  without  arms. — How  fail- 
ure may  prove  ultimately  a  triumph. 

CHAPTER  XIX 

HOME  EULE  UNDEE  THE  SPOT  LIGHTS 288 

The  Home  Rule  Act  as  it  is  on  the  statute  books. 
— Its  clauses  examined. — The  worthlessness  of  the 
measure. — The  helplessness  of  the  proposed  Irish 
Parliament. — How  the  English  Parliament  will  re- 
main supreme. — Why  the  Act  will  break  down 
and  should  be  rejected. — The  sole  hope  of  saving 
a  race  lies  in  separation  from  England. 

CONCLUSION 
CONCLUSION'     306 

The  heart  of  the  people  beats  true. — Are  they 
to  suffer  and  die  in  order  that  Catholic  Ireland 
be  made  the  Avenger  for  Catholic  Belgium? — The 
red  herring  across  the  trail. — When  they  cannot 
save  themselves,  why  try  to  save  Belgium  or  Ser- 
bia?— The  failure  at  Antwerp. — The  neutrality 
of  Greece  violated  by  England. — No  industrial 
Ireland  while  England  rules. — Will  Ireland,  in 
this  crisis,  produce  a  chieftain  who  will  lead  the 
clans  ? 


INTRODUCTION 

BY  DB.   THOMAS  ADDIS  EMMET 

At  the  request  of  my  friend,  the  author,  I  have 
undertaken  to  aid  his  work  by  an  introduction. 
He  has  fully  accomplished  his  purpose,  and 
needs  no  aid.  Yet  sometimes  two  handles  se- 
cure a  better  grasp. 

The  industries  of  Ireland  of  the  past  are  a 
subject  to  which  I  have  given  much  time  and 
study ;  not  entirely  from  what  others  have  seen, 
but  from  my  own  personal  observation  among 
the  people,  as  early  as  1871,  along  the  west  coast, 
where  I  had  no  other  conveyance  but  my  own 
footsteps  to  aid  me.  I  had  long  been  trained 
in  my  profession  as  a  specialist  to  be  a  close 
observer,  and  I  possessed  a  fair  knowledge  of 
physics  and  of  practical  farming,  as  followed 
in  Virginia  at  the  time  of  my  reaching  manhood. 

In  accord  with  my  judgment,  I  will  first  con- 
sider Ireland's  political  relations  with  England, 
as  on  these  must  rest  every  prospect  for  Ire- 
land's future.    England's  title  to  Irish  soil  can 

17 


18  Introduction 

claim  no  better  right  than  that  existing  orig- 
inally in  her  connection  with  all  lands — the  gain 
from  might,  no  more  nor  less  than  that  held  by 
a  highway  robber.  Eome  of  old,  with  France 
and  all  other  nations  of  later  date  in  their  colo- 
nization, with  the  exception  of  England,  con- 
nected with  the  capture  every  effort  to  concili- 
ate, and  to  establish  the  hope  that  the  change 
would  prove  one  of  advantage. 

With  this  treatment,  Eome 's  title  after  every 
conquest  was  soon  gained  with  the  consent  and 
pride  of  the  newly-made  Roman  Citizen,  who 
generally  felt  more  honored  by  the  right  gained 
than  that  held  by  the  proudest  resident  in  the 
city  of  Rome  itself. 

England,  represented  by  her  "Governing 
Classes,"  the  worthy  descendants  of  their  Nor- 
man progenitors,  with  their  greed  for  gain,  as 
known  the  world  over,  with  the  power,  became 
at  once  the  unscrupulous  violator  of  every  com- 
mand in  the  Decalogue,  as  is  proven  by  any 
knowledge  of  Irish  history. 

John  Bull  has  been  the  octopus  and  land- 
grabber  of  the  world,  to  whom  truth  has  ever 
been  unknown  as  an  obligation,  save  from  ne- 


Introduction  19 

cessity.  He  has  been  the  murderous  extermi- 
nator and  cowardly  bully  of  all  weaker  than 
himself,  as  is  taught  by  Irish  history.  Every 
fibre  in  his  construction  is  but  an  indicator  of 
his  ill-gotten  gain.  Two-thirds  of  the  English 
people  have  nothing  in  common  with  ' '  The  Gov- 
erning Class,' '  and  are  but  mere  sojourners  in 
their  own  land.  With  these  I  have  nothing  but 
the  kindest  feeling,  as  I  came  of  the  same  stock, 
having  among  them  today  relatives  and  many 
friends.  With  John  Bull  we  are  dealing,  but, 
with  all  the  necessary  facts  in  the  possession  of 
the  writer,  we  will  leave  him  to  the  well-de- 
served contempt  of  everyone  outside  of  his  own 
bounds,  and  to  his  sympathizers  in  this  country 
and  elsewhere,  of  the  same  stock,  whose  inter- 
ests he  has  always  cared  for,  the  only  thing 
known  to  his  credit. 


Elsewhere*  I  have  written :  ' '  The  charge  has 
been  made  frequently,  and  the  evidence  has 
never  been  wanting  to  show,  that  England, 
from  the  beginning  even  to  our  day,  has  fol- 

*"Ireland  Under  English  Rule."  New  York :  Putnam's  Sons. 
Second  Edition. 


20  Introduction 

lowed  a  settled  purpose  in  her  determination 
that  the  Irish  people  and  Ireland  should  never 
prosper/ ' 

As  England  keeps  the  account  called  the  taxes 
and  doles  out  to  Ireland,  from  time  to  time,  only 
what  is  absolutely  necessary  for  special  pur- 
poses, Ireland  can  obtain  no  redress  under  her 
domination.  Few,  even  among  the  Irish  people, 
after  an  interval  of  more  than  thirty  years,  can 
have  any  knowledge  of  this  injustice;  on  the 
contrary,  it  is  being  constantly  trumpeted 
abroad  that  England,  for  some  time,  has 
made  every  effort  to  retrieve  the  past.  It  is 
stated  how  many  millions  she  has  generously 
advanced  for  the  purchase  of  land  for  the  Irish 
people,  on  all  of  which  she  received  good  inter- 
est, notwithstanding  it  is  Irish  money  and 
eventually  she  receives  the  principal.  It  is  also 
claimed  she  pays  Ireland's  portion  of  the  pen- 
sions for  old  people  among  the  poor.  In  reply, 
I  can  state  the  fact,  which  cannot  be  truthfully 
denied,  that  in  not  one  single  instance  has  Eng- 
land ever  paid  one  penny  of  her  own  money  for 
Ireland's  benefit,  not  even  for  charity. 

In  the  life  of  the  late  Colonel  Edward  Saun- 


Introduction  21 

derson,  a  conspicuous  Orangeman  and  Member 
of  Parliament  from  Ulster,  a  quotation  is  here 
taken  from  one  of  his  speeches:  "When  Eng- 
lishmen set  to  work  to  wipe  the  tear  out  of  Ire- 
land's eye,  they  always  buy  the  pocket  handker- 
chief at  Ireland's  expense.' ' 

There  exists  no  future  for  Ireland  but  in- 
creasing tuberculosis  and  death  from  starvation 
for  her  people,  or  an  absolute  and  speedy  sepa- 
ration from  England.  There  was  no  important 
industry  which  the  Irish  people  have  not  fully 
developed,  and  after  reaching  the  fullest  de- 
gree of  success,  England,  by  aid  of  her  Parlia- 
ment, has  not  ruthlessly  destroyed.  It  has  been 
less  than  one  hundred  and  fifty  years  since  Ire- 
land made  the  hats,  boots,  shoes  and  all  goods 
from  leather,  which  were  unequalled  in  quality 
elsewhere,  and  woolen  ware  and  linen  of  every 
description ;  the  monopoly  of  the  latter  Holland 
held  for  centuries.  Ireland  finally  made  the 
best  cut  glass  in  the  world,  and  considerable  of 
the  best  china.  For  years  she  was  the  book  and 
music  publishing  center,  while  her  inks  of  every 
description  were  rated  the  best,  and  even  the 
sand,  then  used  in  place  of  the  blotting  paper 


22  Introduction 

of  the  present  day,  could  not  be  found  else- 
where as  good.  London  and  Paris  were  de- 
pendent on  the  workmen  of  Dublin  for  the  mak- 
ing of  the  best  jewelry;  also  copper  and  steel 
engraving,  watch  seal  making  and  engraving. 
Ireland  had  the  music  printing  of  the  world; 
also  she  regulated  the  opera  for  Continental 
Europe,  for  it  was  rendered  nowhere  better 
than  in  Dublin.  The  judgment  of  a  Dublin  audi- 
ence determined  the  career  of  many  an  actor  or 
opera  singer.  England  finally,  from  jealousy 
and  greed,  destroyed  every  industry  in  Ireland. 
The  Irish  workmen  were  driven  out  of  Ireland 
for  want  of  occupation,  and  the  greater  part 
emigrated  and  settled  in  Paris,  where  they  es- 
tablished every  industry  for  which  France  is 
now  noted.  The  natural  resources  of  Ireland 
are  inexhaustible ;  for  no  other  land  of  the  same 
extent  has  the  Creator  done  so  much  and  man 
so  little. 

The  possible  development  of  industries  in 
Ireland  should  not  be  considered  before  the 
mighty  power  to  be  obtained  from  Ireland's 
water-power  is  appreciated.  From  the  climate 
in  Ireland,  and  the  lay  of  the  land,  every  stream 


s 


Introduction  23 

is  kept  full  to  the  overflowing  as  it  rushes  on  its 
way  to  the  ocean  over  nature 's  obstacles  placed 
at  every  turn.  The  power  thus  generated  can- 
not be  found  to  the  same  extent  in  any  other 
country.  The  coal  deposits  of  Ireland  exist  to  an 
unknown  extent,  and  if  means  existed  for  their 
transportation  they  would  be  far  more  valuable 
than  the  English  mines,  which  are  now  worked 
at  too  great  a  depth  to  be  sufficiently  profitable, 
or,  as  in  Wales,  are  being  extended  to  too 
great  a  distance  under  the  ocean  to  be  much 
longer  used.  The  capitalists  who  built  the  Irish 
railways  were  the  owners  of  the  English  coal 
mines  and  had  the  course  of  the  railroads  built 
to  pass  at  the  greatest  distance  from  the  coal 
and  iron  deposits  in  Ireland,  while  every  ob- 
stacle was  made  by  the  government  to  prevent 
any  effort  being  made  for  their  development. 

Since  the  " Union,' '  the  government  has  laid 
a  heavy  tax  on  the  use  of  native  coal.  This  is 
but  another  instance  of  broken  faith  on  the  part 
of  the  English  Government.  By  the  fifth  article 
of  the  treaty,  or  the  i '  Act  of  the  Union, ' '  it  was 
pledged  that  coal,  salt,  hops  and  other  articles 
were  to  have  been  free  from  taxation,  yet  these 


24  Introduction 

articles  have  all  been  taxed  since.  In  violation 
of  her  pledged  honor,  it  should  be  stated,  every 
other  article  of  this  treaty  was  disregarded  by 
England,  as  is  her  custom  with  every  obligation 
contracted  by  her,  as  the  truth  seems  to  be  some- 
thing officially  unknown  unless  she  is  to  be  the 
gainer.  There  seems  to  be  an  endless  variety 
of  marbles  of  every  description  and  color. 
Among  them  is  found  a  white  marble  as  pure 
as  any  from  Italy,  and  which  is  seen  nowhere 
else  in  any  northern  country.  The  marble  is 
free  from  the  impurity  of  iron,  which,  on  ex- 
posure to  the  weather,  becomes  oxidized  and 
soluble,  leaving  cavities  for  the  reception  of  rain 
water.  This  freezes  and,  on  melting,  chips  off 
the  face  of  the  stone,  leaving  a  surface  for  the 
accumulation  of  dust,  etc.,  darkening  the  color 
of  the  stone,  as  is  shown  to  have  taken  place  in 
the  Vermont  marble  of  the  monument  to 
Thomas  Addis  Emmet  in  St.  Paul's  Church, 
and  in  the  stone  used  in  the  construction  of 
Grace  Church  and  other  buildings.  There  ex- 
ists in  Ireland  the  greatest  variety  of  colors  of 
clays,  as  well  as  the  purest  white,  with  kaolin 
and  porcelain  clays  for  the  making  of  the  finest 


Introduction  25 

quality  of  pottery  and  chinaware  to  be  found  in 
any  part  of  the  world ;  also  the  earths  for  mak- 
ing bricks  and  tiles. 

At  the  Crystal  Palace  Exhibition  held  in  New 
York  in  1850  I  recollect  seeing  a  collection  of 
Irish  building  stone  of  over  six  hundred  differ- 
ent specimens,  all  of  which,  it  was  claimed,  were 
of  equally  good  quality. 

Before  the  close  of  the  seventeenth  century 
Ireland  had  demonstrated  the  value  of  her  glass 
works,  whose  production  was  universally  ac- 
cepted as  the  most  beautiful  to  be  obtained  any- 
where. This  was  due  to  the  superior  quality  of 
certain  deposits  in  different  parts  of  the  coun- 
try and  to  the  remarkable  richness  in  the  residu- 
ary salts  found  in  the  ash  from  the  Irish  kelp, 
which,  grown  on  the  West  Course,  where  the 
ocean  has  never  been  at  rest  since  the  Creation, 
is  found,  from  being  in  constant  motion,  to  be 
of  mammoth  size. 

It  was  nearly  one  hundred  years  before  Eng- 
land was  able  totally  to  destroy  this  industry, 
and  she  is  today  dependent  on  the  use  of  Irish 
kelp  and  sand  for  the  success  of  her  own  glass 
manufactories.     She  never  equaled  the  Irish 


26  Introduction 

cut  glass,  as  beautiful,  it  was  said,  as  any  ever 
produced  in  Venice,  which  in  my  early  days  was 
seen  in  common  use  throughout  the  Southern 
States.  Ireland's  woolen  industries  were  never 
equaled,  as  the  wool  was  remarkably  fine.  The 
climate  on  the  west  coast  of  Ireland,  in  County 
Clare  and  County  Kerry,  had  an  effect  on  the 
quality  of  the  wool  which  yet  exists  after  so 
long  an  interval,  as  the  wool  of  the  mature  sheep 
in  this  district  is  still  remarkably  fine. 

We  may  consider  Ireland's  possibilities  in- 
definitely and  not  the  slightest  doubt  can  be 
raised  as  to  the  success  of  any  industry  in  Ire- 
land if  the  development  be  under  favorable  cir- 
cumstances. 

When  separation  from  England  has  been 
gained,  there  will  be  created  at  once  a  demand 
for  good  food  and  proper  clothing.  We  have 
now  reached  a  point  where  I  should,  as  a  medi- 
cal man,  place  on  record  my  experience  in  con- 
nection with  Ireland  from  1871  to  1903.  Since 
then  my  knowledge  has  been  chiefly  based  upon 
published  medical  records,  and  from  these  I  am 
led  to  believe  there  has  been  but  little  change 
for  the  better.    The  people  of  Ireland  have  not 


Introduction  27 

been  properly  fed  for  over  three  centuries,  but 
the  children  were  better  cared  for  before 
the  famine  of  1847.  Since  that  time  they  have 
shared,  as  a  rule,  the  tea  baker  ?s  bread  diet  of 
their  elders,  and  have  been  fortunate  while  reg- 
ularity of  gain  and  a  sufficiency  for  moderate 
repletion  existed.  There  was  never  a  famine  in 
Ireland  but  of  England's  making,  to  increase 
the  gain  of  her  own  people,  when  more  than  ten 
times  the  amount  of  food  was  being  taken  out 
of  the  country  than  would  have  saved  every  in- 
dividual from  starvation.  The  famine  of  1847 
was  one  of  profit  to  her  and  her  people  in  her 
demand  for  the  pound  of  flesh.  The  United 
States  Government  sent  the  sloop  of  war 
"  Jamestown' '  laden  to  her  gunwales  with  food 
for  the  starving  people  of  Ireland,  yet  not  a 
particle  of  this  abundance  ever  reached  those  in 
want.  The  cargo  was  placed  by  the  English 
Government  in  a  warehouse  in  Cork  and  rotted, 
as  well  as  many  other  contributions  from  the 
charitable  of  the  world.  In  regard  to  this,  Sir 
Eobert  Peel,  then  the  English  Premier,  stated 
that ' '  the  natural  course  of  commerce  and  trade 
would    be    deranged' '    by    such    a    way    of 


28  Introduction 

distributing  charity.  After  the  English  traders 
had  gotten  possession  of  every  six-pence 
to  be  obtained,  the  government  yielded 
to  public  demand  and  made  an  advance  as  if  of 
charity  on  its  part,  which  proved  to  be  Irish 
money,  which  Ireland  had  to  repay  with  inter- 
est, notwithstanding  the  greater  part  was  paid 
out  to  English  clerks,  who  rendered  no  efficient 
service  by  distributing  a  ticket  for  a  pint  of 
meal  to  a  man  dying  of  dysentery,  to  be  ob- 
tained at  some  claimed  depot  twenty  miles  dis- 
tant and  the  sufferer  unable  to  take  twenty 
steps.  Most  difficult  is  it  for  the  writer  to  con- 
fine himself  to  a  consideration  of  Irish  indus- 
tries when  there  is  so  much  to  be  considered  in 
close  connection,  and  the  direct  result  of  Eng- 
land's destruction  of  these  industries  from  her 
misrule,  where  a  man  may  live  in  a  half-starved 
condition  for  a  year  without  being  able  to  earn 
a  shilling  for  a  day's  work. 

Ireland  today  contains  more  persons  doomed 
to  die  from  tuberculosis  than  any  other  country, 
with  many  demented  and  half-witted  people,  as 
well  as  many  hopelessly  insane,  when  in  1743 
the  disease  was  almost  unknown  in  the  country 


Introduction  29 

and  the  first  asylum  was  built  by  Dean  Swift  in 
consequence  of  his  own  condition  being  an  indi- 
cation of  a  coming  need.  The  saddest  condition 
of  all  is  the  sight  of  so  many  blind  persons.  I 
have  myself  come  upon  some  out-of-the-way 
nook  along  the  west  coast  where  all  seemed  to 
be  in  rags  and  apparently  with  no  other  subsis- 
tence than  some  kind  of  seaweed  and  a  coarse 
grass  that  any  other  animal  than  a  goat  would 
reject.  Nearly  all  were  more  or  less  blind,  and 
on  examining  their  eyes,  I  found  a  condition 
with  which  I  had  become  familiar  as  early  as 
1850  among  the  half-starved  Irish  emigrants 
suffering  from  ship,  or  typhus,  fever.  From  the 
low  condition  of  their  vitality,  due  to  chronic 
starvation,  the  clear  portion  of  the  eye  over  the 
pupil  would  ulcerate,  and  if  they  lived  long 
enough  for  it  to  heal,  as  the  scar  was  not  trans- 
parent, they  remained  blind  for  the  remainder 
of  their  lives. 

These  details,  which  would  be  of  little  inter- 
est except  to  the  medical  man,  must  be  cited  to 
show  that  the  first  industry  to  be  undertaken  in 
Ireland  is  agriculture.  Every  portion  of  the 
country  should  be  planted,  under  proper  in- 


30  Introduction 

struction,  to  gain  the  largest  harvest,  not  to  feed 
England,  but  to  be  retained  with  the  utmost  vig- 
ilance for  home  consumption.  No  price  should 
tempt  the  people  to  part  with  the  food  within 
their  reach,  to  be  exported  as  usual.  Pay  no 
debts  with  it  as  of  old,  and  resist  every  attempt 
made  to  seize  it.  The  first  struggle  for  indepen- 
dence must  be  made  on  this  issue,  and  will 
simply  be  one  of  life  or  death.  With  this  war 
and  the  great  demand  for  food,  Ireland,  without 
this  precaution,  is  doomed  to  suffer  from  a  fam- 
ine which  may  easily  exterminate  the  race.  At 
no  time  has  the  future  welfare  of  Ireland  been 
in  greater  danger  than  at  the  present. 


New  Yoek,  December  1, 1915. 


The  Author  is  deeply  sensible  of  the  appreciation  and  en- 
dorsement of  Dr.  Thomas  Addis  Emmet,  who  by  common  con- 
sent is  the  greatest  living  authority  as  a  writer  of  modern 
Irish  history,  and  whose  labors  and  sacrifices  have  endeared 
him  to  all  who  wish  for  the  preservation  of  the  Celtic  race. 


PREFACE 

There  are  two  Chinese  proverbs  which  are 

relevant  to  the  spirit  in  which  the  following 

chapters  are  written: 

There's  no  rock  of  empire  man  shall  make, 
But  tooth  and  tide  of  time  shall  shake. 

Chang  Jo  Hue  (Chinese),  A.  D.  800. 

The  truths  that  we  least  wish  to  hear  are  those 
which  it  is  most  to  our  advantage  to  know. — Old  Chi- 
nese Proverb. 

England  has  long  held  the  ear  of  the  world. 
As  part  of  her  commercial  policy  she  has  suc- 
cessfully exploited  the  prevailing  belief  that 
Ireland,  as  a  commercial  or  industrialized  na- 
tion, is  impossible.  This  little  work  will  prove 
a  revelation  to  many  practical  men  who  have 
doubted  the  existence  of  the  really  wonderful 
rich  resources  of  a  land  which  offers  the  great- 
est commercial  possibilities  for  development  in 
Europe  because,  through  centuries  of  neglect, 
her  resources  are  almost  untouched  and  easy 
of  access.  Were  Ireland  a  free  and  independent 
nation,  withdrawn  from  the  control  of  England, 
with  Germany  as  her  friend  and  potential  ally, 

31 


32  Preface 

deserving  the  fast  friendship  of  the  United 
States,  the  Emerald  Isle  would  carve  out  her 
destinies  and  become  one  of  the  most  important 
small  states  of  the  world.  As  long  as  Ireland 
remains  a  West  British  colony  used  for  sup- 
plying food  and  animals  to  feed  the  English 
factory  workers — and  England  never  intends  to 
let  her  be  anything  else — just  so  long  will  Erin 
remain  the  most  backward  and  poorest  country 
on  the  continent. 

Germany  is  the  most  vigorous  and  healthiest 
of  the  great  nations  and  the  neutral  world  dis- 
covers her  latent  strength  at  the  same  moment 
when  the  inherent  weaknesses  of  the  British 
Empire,  despite  vaster  wealth  and  numbers,  are 
pitilessly  exposed  to  a  wondering  world. 

The  historic  wrongs  of  Ireland  find  little 
space  in  this  volume.  They  are  too  well  known 
to  be  described  at  this  time.  Ireland  is  the  natu- 
ral strategic  entrance  to  Europe  while  her  chil- 
dren tonight  are  at  the  parting  of  the  ways. 
There  are  nearly  20,000,000  of  them  in  various 
lands  and  only  4,000,000  in  Ireland.  Their  kin 
across  the  seas,  having  lived  under  the  sun  of 
freedom,  have  a  right  to  protest  against  the  sac- 


Preface  33 

rifice  of  the  remaining  remnants,  deceived  by 
the  representations  of  the  ruthless  foe  of  cen- 
turies. At  present  Ireland  is  only  food-produc- 
ing and  recruiting  ground  for  England.  What 
earthly  hope  is  there  for  her  people  as  a  race 
and  a  nation  until  the  sun  shall  have  set  on  the 
British  Empire?  In  this  volume  are  set  forth 
the  economic  reasons  why  England  will  never 
permit  Ireland  to  experience  industrial  and 
commmercial  freedom.  The  reader  is  asked  to 
study  the  chapter  containing  the  text  of  the  so- 
called  Home  Eule  Bill  and  see  what  a  wretched 
sham,  fraud,  and  travesty  the  measure  appears 
in  the  name  of  self-government  and  how  effec- 
tually the  country  is  estopped  from  the  liberties 
which  have  made  Canada  and  Australia  factors 
in  the  empire. 

Special  attention  is  invited  to  the  chapters  on 
Irish  agriculture,  manufacture,  fuel,  water- 
power,  fisheries,  reclamation,  transit  facilities, 
and  various  neglected  resources.  They  have 
been  prepared  with  great  care  and  the  facts 
and  data  contained  therein  are  absolutely  cor- 
rect and  will,  therefore,  stand  an  X-ray  test,  as 
the  author  subjected  his  data  to  the  two  best- 


34  Preface 

known  authorities  on  the  special  subjects  men- 
tioned, in  Dublin  and  New  York,  for  examina- 
tion and  approval. 

The  Author. 

New  York,  December  10,  191 5. 


CHAPTER  I 

THE  GAELIC  RENAISSANCE 

War-battered  dogs  are  we, 
Fighters  in  every  clime, 
Fillers  of  trench  and  of  grave, 
Mockers,  bemocked  by  Time; 
War-dogs,  hungry  and  grey, 
Gnawing  a  naked  bone, 
Fighting  in  every  clime 
Every  cause  but  our  own. 

The  object  of  the  Gaelic  Renaissance  is  to  make 
Ireland  Irish  and  arrest  the  progress  of  mak- 
ing her  merely  a  West  British  province.  The 
saving  of  the  national  spirit  is  a  labor  of  love 
for  true  Celts,  who  wish  to  preserve  the  native 
language,  civilization,  music,  art  and  history. 
The  national  character  is  not  to  be  preserved 
unless  the  country  prospers  in  a  material  sense. 
The  nation  must  create  a  sufficient  income  to 
maintain  high  standards  of  living,  otherwise 
the  aspirations  of  a  race  are  sunk  in  the  woes 
of  the  severe  struggle  for  existence.  This  war 
has  brought  to  mankind  the  largest  amount  of 
human  suffering  the  world  has  known.     We 

35 


36   What  Could  Germany  Do  For  Ireland? 

have  been  told  for  decades  that  race  divisions 
and  racial  hatreds  were  dying  out ;  that  the  love 
of  country  was  weakening,  as  compared  with 
the  love  of  mankind;  this  was  the  age  of 
brotherhood  and  the  triumph  of  international 
comity  and  spirit ;  there  could  be  no  great  war 
of  races  or  combinations  of  races ;  the  old  align- 
ments had  perished.  There  was  the  great  army 
of  Socialists,  a  wide-world  party,  powerful  in 
Parliaments  and  Cabinets,  with  the  symbol  of 
the  blood  of  man  and  the  love  of  all  peoples  be- 
fore the  world.  They  would  never  kill  their 
brothers  in  battle.  There  were  Christianity  and 
Socialism  united  to  prevent  war,  and  today 
three  millions  of  Socialists  are  at  grips,  engaged 
in  the  death  struggle.  They  were  Germans 
first,  Frenchmen  first,  Englishmen  first,  Aus- 
trians  first — Socialists  last.  The  cry  of  national 
defense  takes  the  place,  in  the  grim,  hideous 
world  of  today,  of  the  lost  call  that  all  men  are 
brothers.  Ireland  should  stand  alone  for  Ire- 
land, and  save  the  submerging  of  the  Celtic 
race.  This  is  not  Ireland's  war.  Her 
strength  is  in  living,  in  saving  her  youth  and 
preserving  the  race  from  death — live  to  create 


The  Gaelic  Renaissance  37 

a  social  order  which  will  lessen  the  hardships 
of  existence,  and  learn  that  prosperity  is  the 
only  sure  test  of  the  success  of  national  experi- 
ments. The  co-operation  of  new  manufactur- 
ing industries  with  improved  agriculture  will 
increase  wages  and  population.  Then  Ireland 
will  not  depend  on  the  English  market.  She 
will  consume  most  of  her  cattle,  butter,  poultry 
and  other  products.  Her  people  may  wear 
Irish-made  clothes,  live  in  houses  made  of  Irish 
cement,  eat  food  preserved  in  Ireland,  wear 
Irish  shoes,  clothes,  use  Irish  furniture,  clocks, 
watches,  shirts  and  gowns,  if  she  prefers  her 
own  wares  to  others.  This  is  what  the  material 
development  of  Ireland  would  mean  if  she  was 
really  an  important  country  in  Europe.  The 
Irish  trade-mark,  "Made  in  Ireland/ '  would  be 
seen  often  outside  of  Ireland.  Labor  would  be 
organized  into  great  productive  trades,  instead 
of  being  dominated,  in  these  miserable  times,  by 
the  distillers  and  other  selfish  interests.  The 
slums  of  the  capital,  wretched  in  the  extreme, 
would  be  cleared  away.  Trade  and  vocational 
schools  would  occupy  the  sites  of  the  distilleries. 
Industrial  villages,  organized  on  co-operative 


38    What  Could  Germany  Do  For  Ireland? 

lines,  copied  from  Germany,  would  take  the 
place  of  the  gloomy,  cheerless  Irish  villages  that 
give  us  the  heartache  to  see  them.  The  pitiful 
cry  of  wretched  Connemara  may  be  answered, 
her  rich  resources  developed,  and  her  bogs 
drained  and  turned  into  fruitful  soil.  The 
ideals  of  freedom  have  inspired  the  men  and 
women  of  all  ages.  If  the  industrial  and  eco- 
nomic system  of  Germany  has  brought  indus- 
trial freedom  and  prosperity  to  all  her  states, 
the  young  men  of  Ireland  can  afford  to  borrow 
it  and  profit  by  her  example.  And  her  friends 
in  other  lands  can  afford  to  inquire  into  the 
causes  which  have  made  Ireland  the  weakest 
country  on  the  continent  and  to  embrace  with 
courage  and  fearlessness  the  spirit  and  prin- 
ciples and  the  practical  aid  of  a  civilized  state, 
the  foremost  in  modern  economic  history. 


CHAPTER  II 

IRELAND  AT  THE  CROSSROADS 

The  nations  have  fallen  and  thou  art  still  young, 
Thy  sun  is  just  rising  when  others  have  set, 

And  though  slavery's  cloud  o'er  thy  morning  has 
hung, 
The  full  moon  of  freedom  shall  beam  on  thee  yet. 

Striking  heavy  blows  at  the  heart  of  British 
empire  in  the  East,  while  English  statesmen 
tremble,  the  triumphant  German  organization 
is  marching  over  the  world's  great  trading 
route  from  Hamburg  to  Bagdad,  from  Berlin 
to  Constantinople.  The  juncture  effected  of 
the  German-Austrian  forces  with  the  Bul- 
garians eliminates  Serbia  and  makes  clear  the 
road  for  the  Turks  on  their  march  to  Egypt. 
All  the  world  knows  at  last  of  the  disastrous 
failures  and  defeat  at  the  Dardanelles,  despite 
the  false  dispatches  of  six  months  from  the 
Straits.  The  guns  of  von  Mackensen  boomed 
across  the  Danube  and  soon  their  reverbera- 
tions will  be  heard  over  the  Suez  Canal  and  echo 
through  India,  the  seats  of  British  world  power. 

39 


40   What  Could  Germany  Do  For  Ireland? 

Let  none  mistake  the  significance  of  the  present 
spectacle  of  consternation  in  England.  Eecall 
your  schoolboy  histories  and  remember  that  the 
power  which  ruled  Egypt  and  Asia  Minor  is  al- 
ways the  empire  that  has  ruled  the  Old  World. 
Every  conqueror  in  history,  from  Alexander 
the  Great  down  to  Napoleon,  has  believed  that 
the  keys  of  the  world  are  there.  The  torch  that 
fired  the  Balkan  powder  magazine  may  destroy 
the  Eastern  Empire  of  England. 

The  power  of  the  Persian  dynasty  rested  on 
the  fate  of  Egypt,  and  Alexander  the  Great 
ruled  the  world  when  he  took  Egypt  from  the 
Persians,  332  B.  C.  Alexandria  as  a  Greek  capi- 
tal was  the  center  of  Grecian  world  power  and 
civilization.  Then,  400  years  later,  the  Eoman 
victories  at  Actium  settled  the  fate  of  Egypt  for 
centuries,  while  the  Roman  empire  ruled  the 
world.  The  eagles  of  Napoleon  held  Egypt  in 
the  early  part  of  his  reign,  and  then  arrived 
England,  who  effected  the  final  conquest  of 
Egypt  when  Alexandria  was  bombarded  in 
1882. 

British  diplomacy  has  failed  in  the  Orient  in 
1915  where  it  succeeded  and  saved  the  Empire 


Ireland  at  the  Crossroads  41 

from  Napoleon  in  1798.  When  Napoleon  sailed 
from  Toulon  that  year  to  conquer  Egypt  he 
realized  that  he  would  win  battles  there  but 
could  not  hold  the  country  without  the  aid  of 
Turkey.  The  mamelukes  of  Egypt  were  at  war 
with  Turkey  and  Napoleon  believed  by  conquer- 
ing the  common  enemy  that  he  would  receive 
the  support  of  Turkey.  Threatened  in  the  East, 
the  wily  English  diplomats  won  the  heir  of  the 
Prophet  to  their  side  and  the  Christians  formed 
an  alliance  with  the  Infidels  which  defeated  Na- 
poleon. In  the  light  of  history  the  hypocritical 
protest  from  London  of  the  unholy  Germanic- 
Turk  alliance  is  very  amusing.  The  situation 
of  1798  is  reversed  and  the  British  Empire  is 
at  the  mercy  of  Turkey  as  the  French  were  un- 
der Napoleon.  His  armies  perished  on  the 
sands  of  the  desert  in  a  manner  not  wholly  dis- 
similar to  the  way  that  the  soldiers  of  France 
and  England  are  perishing  in  1915. 

With  trained  officers,  there  are  no  finer  sol- 
diers in  the  world  than  the  Turks.  They  have 
no  fear  of  death  and  are  noted  for  endurance. 
Only  a  small  part  of  their  available  fighting 
men  have  been  engaged  at  the  Dardanelles,  the 


42   What  Could  Germany  Do  For  Ireland? 

Caucasus  or  in  Mesopotamia  for  lack  of  guns 
and  munitions.  All  men  over  16  must  go  to 
war  and  military  authorities  say  they  will  have 
1,500,000  new  soldiers  ready  as  soon  as  the  mu- 
nitions and  food  supplies  are  received.  All 
this  spells  tragedy  for  British  hopes  in  the 
Eastern  campaign  and  when  the  news  filters 
through  press-censored  Ireland,  it  is  bound  to 
infect  public  opinion  so  as  to  create  deep  in- 
terest in  the  problem  of  what  will  happen  to 
the  Emerald  Isle  in  the  event  of  England  losing 
the  war. 

This  war  has  taught  many  thoughtful  Ameri- 
cans the  danger  and  menace  of  British  rule  of 
the  sea.  They  realize  that  if  the  United  States 
was  at  war  with  Japan,  or  any  other  ally  of 
England,  American  trade  and  commerce  on  the 
ocean  could  be  destroyed  as  fully  as  English 
domination  of  the  ocean  has  shut  off  the  over- 
seas trade  of  the  German  Empire.  There  never 
was  the  slightest  danger  that  Germany  would 
declare  war  on  the  United  States.  We  are 
nearly  4,000  miles  away  and  a  vast  expanse  of 
water  separates  the  two  countries,  forming  a 
natural  barrier,  making  the  transportation  of 


Ireland  at  the  Crossroads  43 

a  great  army  well-nigh  impossible  directed 
against  a  vast  country  with  unlimited  resources. 
The  Wilson  administration  very  wisely  de- 
mands a  government-controlled  merchant  ma- 
rine to  insure  the  development  and  protection 
of  American  trade.  And  there  is  a  sentiment, 
partly  genuine,  partly  accelerated,  for  a  large 
navy  to  protect  American  commerce.  With  a 
great  merchant  marine  flying  the  flag  of  the 
United  States  also  trading  with  Ireland,  and 
with  the  deep  friendship  of  Germany,  the  young 
industries  of  Ireland  could  be  improved,  and 
markets  found  for  her  wares.  Her  strategic 
shipping  position  gives  her  a  marked  advantage 
which  has  often  been  pointed  out  elsewhere. 
England  is  a  relentless  enemy  where  her  com- 
mercial supremacy  is  threatened.  Whatever 
the  outcome  of  the  war,  her  ambitious  project  is 
to  establish  by  treaty  with  the  United  States  an 
offensive  and  defensive  alliance  of  all  English- 
speaking  people  in  the  world.  She  would  cer- 
tainly be  the  predominant  partner,  with  the  aid 
of  her  rich  colonies,  their  immense  wealth  and 
vast  population.  Thus  she  would  feel  immune 
from  attack  at  the  hands  of  Germany  or  other 


44   What  Could  Germany  Do  For  Ireland? 

enemies.  Germany  must  control  Europe  from 
the  Baltic  Sea  to  the  Mediterranean  Sea,  from 
Eiga  to  Constantinople.  She  must,  if  possible, 
and  at  any  hazard,  take  over  Egypt  and  the 
Suez  Canal  and  aim  to  split  up  India,  the  cor- 
ner-stones of  the  British  Empire.  France,  brave 
and  intrepid,  but  slowly  bleeding  to  death,  must 
be  left  inviolate  as  to  territory  if  she  separates 
from  Eussia,  which  mad  alliance  has  nearly  ef- 
fected her  ruination.  Germany  will  weaken  the 
Eussian  autocratic  empire,  a  constant  menace 
to  modern  civilization  and  progress  in  its  vast 
numbers,  and  take  over  Courland  and  leave  Po- 
land and  her  15,000,000  of  people  to  set  up  an 
autonomous  and  independent  state  under  the 
protection  of  Austro-Germany — a  buffer  state 
between  the  Teuton  and  Slav  empires,  always 
of  infinite  advantage  to  the  future  of  the  Teu- 
tonic forces. 

Having  thus  insured  her  position  of  suprem- 
acy in  the  East,  the  terms  of  peace  should  fur- 
nish her  with  the  only  guarantee  of  para- 
mountcy  in  the  West  which  depends  on  the  com- 
plete separation  of  Ireland  from  England  and 
the  creation  of  a  new  Irish  National  Govern- 


Ireland  at  the  Crossroads  45 

ment  formed  to  develop  the  resources  of  the 
island  and  assured  of  an  alliance  with  Germany 
and  her  allies  and  the  good  will  and  friendship 
of  the  United  States.  The  stronger  position 
that  an  independent  Ireland  occupies  in  the 
Western  world  the  more  potent  ally  she  be- 
comes. A  populous,  powerful  Ireland  guarding 
the  entrance  to  Europe  would  for  a  long  time 
guarantee  that  England  would  not  regain  mas- 
tery of  the  world.  A  strong  Irish  nation,  reso- 
lute in  national  spirit  and  character,  is  essential 
to  Germany  in  successfully  terminating  the  war ; 
otherwise  she  has  failed  to  close  the  main  door 
on  her  enemies  in  the  West.  Germany  could 
well  afford  as  an  insurance  of  future  peace 
to  guarantee  Irish  bonds  and  securities  for  the 
development  of  the  island,  issued  on  the  good 
faith  and  property  of  the  people.  The  British 
and  French  financing  of  Belgium  brought  the 
latter  country  into  the  war  against  Germany, 
while  the  billions  of  French  money  invested  in 
Russia  brought  that  country  to  the  side  of 
France.  We  know  that  Bulgaria  was  the  key  to 
the  Balkan  States  and  that  she  was  financed  by 
Germany.    Likewise,  Turkey  was  financed  and 


46   What  Could  Germany  Do  For  Ireland? 

officered  by  Germany  and  the  result  of  her  grati- 
tude is  seen  in  the  frightful  disasters  that  have 
overtaken  the  British  armies  at  the  Dardanelles. 

It  is  true  that  Ireland  is  the  poorest  country 
in  Europe,  but  Germany  was  a  poor  country  up 
to  1871,  yet  in  40  years  she  has  shown  the  world 
what  economic  development  has  done  for  a  poor 
people  by  revolutionizing  methods  of  produc- 
tion and  distribution  of  commodities  so  that  the 
surplus  of  the  income  of  the  people  exceeds 
their  consumption ;  so  that  the  part  of  the  world 
disposed  to  be  fair  acknowledges  her  suprem- 
acy in  solving  the  great  problems  of  human 
existence. 

On  October  22,  1915,  King  George  of  Eng- 
land appealed  to  his  subjects  in  these  words : 

War  has  been  declared  in  order  that  another  may 
not  inherit  the  free  empire  which  my  ancestors  have 
built.  The  end  is  not  in  sight.  More  men,  and  yet 
more  men,  are  wanted  to  keep  my  armies  in  the  field 
and  through  them  to  secure  victory. 

Sensible  Celts  who  would  preserve  their  race 
must  acknowledge  that,  having  no  part  of  a 
"free  empire"  to  lose,  their  ancestors  having 
been  enslaved  and  their  country  impoverished 


Ireland  at  the  Crossroads  47 

and  its  institutions  destroyed  by  ruthless  con- 
querors, the  plain  duty  of  the  people  of  Ireland 
is  to  live  and  defend  their  own  country.  There 
is  not  a  single  page  in  the  last  700  years  of 
Erin's  melancholy  history  which  can  possibly 
inspire  a  true  Celt  to  give  up  his  life  to  help 
save  the  tottering  government  of  the  persecu- 
tors and  oppressors  of  his  land.  We  are  in- 
formed by  the  Belfast  Daily  News*  and  the 
London  Times  that,  in  the  first  fifteen  months 
of  the  war,  not  more  than  30,000  recruits  have 
been  secured  in  Ireland,  outside  of  Orange  and 
Tory  recruits,  and  that  at  the  present  time  (De- 
cember, 1915)  scarcely  any  real  Nationalist  vol- 
unteers are  going  to  the  front.  This  is  as  it 
should  be  always  if  the  remnants  of  the  race  are 
to  be  saved.  The  blood  of  the  poor  Connaught 
Rangers  and  the  unfortunate  Dublin  Fusilliers 
lies  on  the  heads  of  the  Irish  party  recruiting 


*"In  rural  Ireland,  where  the  Hibernians  are  the  ruling 
power,  the  recruiting  sergeant  appeals  in  vain.  He  cannot 
get  recruits  amongst  the  Hibernians,  and  the  few  Unionists 
have  already  gone  or  have  been  killed  in  battle.  The  West 
and  the  South  are  disloyal.  Even  the  5th  Battalion  Connaught 
Rangers  contains  few  Nationalists.  Looking  over  casualty 
lists,  we  find  many  English  in  "Irish"  regiments.  That  is 
how  the  Home  Rulers  are  fighting  for  the  glory  of  the 
Empire." — Belfast  Daily  News,  October  14,  1915. 


48   What  Could  Germany  Do  For  Ireland? 

agents  who  lured  those  lads  to  the  burning 
sands  of  the  desert  in  the  ill-starred  and  fatal 
Dardanelles  campaign  and  the  day  will  come 
when  the  mothers  of  Ireland  will  voice  this  sen- 
timent. With  the  British  casualty  list  running 
into  thousands  daily  and  the  most  terrific 
battles  yet  to  come,  the  wise  friends  of  Irish  na- 
tionality at  home  and  abroad  must  see  in  this 
fearful  casualty  rate  the  vital  necessity  of  sav- 
ing Ireland  for  her  future  greatness  among  the 
nations  of  the  earth.  Her  youth  preserved  and 
the  young  men  and  wealth  of  England  gone, 
there  will  be  left  a  virile  people  better  able, 
through  the  exhaustion  of  England,  to  cope  with 
their  enemies  in  art,  business  and  industries. 
If  the  Teutonic  victories  shall  recast  the  map 
of  Europe,  as  now  seems  inevitable,  and  Ire- 
land succeeds  in  taking  a  place  once  more 
among  the  nations,  then  it  is  vital  to  her  na- 
tional welfare  that  her  young  men  avoid  enroll- 
ing in  the  British  army.  They  should  remain 
at  home  preparing  to  build  up  a  strong  and  free 
Ireland,  resisting  conscription  to  the  bitter  end. 
These  views  are  upheld  by  practically  all  of  the 
Irish- American  societies  and  newspapers.    And 


Ireland  at  the  Crossroads  49 

those  who  have  been  prejudiced  against  Ger- 
many by  a  studied  campaign  of  false  news  and 
slanderous  reports  might  well  be  reminded  of 
the  powerful  situation  of  the  Germanic  forces 
in  the  enemy's  territory  and  to  court  the  friend- 
ship rather  than  the  hostility  of  the  strongest 
nation  in  Europe. 

The  Associated  Press,  in  a  dispatch  dated 
Dublin,  October  1,  1915,  notes : 

Ireland  is  now  at  work  on  a  large  scale  in  the  manu- 
facture of  munitions  of  war.  The  work  is  now  well 
in  hand  and  no  less  than  one  hundred  and  seventy 
firms  in  Ireland  are  engaged  in  it.  Large  orders  have 
been  placed  in  Dublin,  and  one  firm  has  got  an  order 
for  $100,000,  a  small  figure  on  the  general  scale  of 
this  war  but  a  good  deal  of  money  for  a  city  where 
employment  is  scarce  and  industry  backward.  Ire- 
land never  has  in  the  past  secured  a  fair  share  of 
government  expenditure.  Ireland's  chief  industry  is, 
and  must  remain,  agriculture,  and  one  of  the  most 
indispensable  of  war  munitions  is  food.  A  vigorous 
campaign  is  to  be  waged  under  government  auspices 
to  increase  the  output  of  food  products  in  Ireland. 
But  farmers'  sons  are  not  enlisting  in  the  army. 

The  only  ray  of  hope  for  Ireland  lies  in  the 
last  sentence ;  all  the  rest  is  a  disgraceful  reve- 
lation to  the  world  of  the  depths  of  the  economic 
degradation  to  which  the  country  has  fallen 
after  centuries  of  English  government.    They 


50   What  Could  Germany  Do  For  Ireland? 

are  to  be  given  industries  only  in  the  shape  of 
shell  factories  to  kill  a  people  who  never  harmed 
them  for  the  benefit  of  a  country  which  has 
made  their  land  the  most  desolate,  miserable 
and  backward  country  in  Europe.  The  govern- 
ment is  to  wage  a  campaign  for  the  output  of 
food  products  in  Ireland  at  last,  but  only  in 
order  that  the  army  at  home  and  abroad  may  be 
fed. 

A  curious  irony  of  fate  that  England,  the  de- 
stroyer of  Irish  industries,  through  the  neces- 
sities of  war,  should  fall  back  on  neglected  Ire- 
land for  war  supplies,  and  they  should  be  the 
first  industries  developed  since  the  British 
union  with  Ireland  in  1801 !  We  are  glad  to  have 
this  historic  admission  through  the  valuable 
channels  of  the  news  service  on  which  Ameri- 
cans rely  for  information.  Elsewhere  the 
writer  shows  why  England  will  never  grant  in- 
dustrial freedom  to  Ireland  and  why  the  inter- 
ests of  Germany  after  the  war  demand  the  free- 
dom of  Ireland  and  her  separation  from  Eng- 
land, and  why  Ireland  then,  and  then  only,  can 
be  made  a  powerful  and  prosperous  nation.  It 
will  be  seen  why  England  intends  always  to 


Ireland  at  the  Crossroads  51 

keep  Ireland  as  a  grazing  and  farming  island, 
using  the  sparse  population  to  feed  her  factory 
workers.  A  country  dependent  on  farming  and 
without  diversified  industries  cannot  hope  to  be 
important  or  prosperous  as  a  nation.  There 
must  be  manufactures  and  commerce  to  fur- 
nish life-blood  for  a  nation.  The  island,  to  have 
a  position  in  the  world,  must  have  capital  to  de- 
velop her  great  natural  resources,  the  listing 
and  recital  of  which  will  amaze  the  fair  reader 
who  has  hitherto  relied  on  wrong  information. 
Every  statement  of  fact  and  figures  in  this  book 
has  been  prepared  with  the  most  careful  atten- 
tion, and  the  information  is  reliable  and  the 
figures  claimed  to  be  accurate.  The  writer 
pleads  for  a  study  of  a  possible  social  and  po- 
litical organization  in  a  country  bereft  of  people 
and  industries,  and  its  best  blood  scattered  for 
half  a  century  over  most  parts  of  the  world. 
We  plead  for  the  saving  of  the  remnants  of  a 
race  through  the  outcome  of  this  greatest  and 
most  fearful  of  wars  of  races.  We  believe  the 
star  of  the  British  Empire  is  setting,  never  to 
rise  again  in  the  firmament  with  the  same  bril- 
liancy.    Her  vast  possessions   and  enormous 


52   What  Could  Germany  Do  For  Ireland? 

wealth  will  not  save  her  from  taking  second  or 
third  place  in  the  affairs  of  nations.  The  last 
year  and  a  half  has  exposed  her  impotency  and 
inefficiency  to  the  world  and  no  amount  of  head- 
lines can  conceal  the  disasters  that  have  over- 
taken her  armed  forces  in  all  theatres  of  war. 
On  the  advice  of  Sir  Edward  Grey,  her  For- 
eign Minister,  England  declared  war  on  Ger- 
many, and  according  to  the  London  Daily  Mail 
of  October  15 : 

Sir  Edward  Grey  made  a  statement  in  the  House 
of  Commons  yesterday  on  the  course  of  diplomacy  in 
the  Balkans.  He  said  in  effect:  "I  could  have  won 
a  diplomatic  victory  in  the  Balkans  only  if  our  armies 
had  had  a  victory  to  help  me.  The  Germans  have  vic- 
tories and  that  gave  success  to  her  diplomats  who 
were  working  for  a  Balkan  war." 

Friends  of  the  cause  of  Irish  Nationality  are 
asked  not  only  to  consider  the  past  and  present 
economic  situation  of  Ireland,  but  the  depths  of 
the  abyss  into  which  she  will  have  fallen  in  the 
event  of  British  final  collapse  and  if  fate  should 
ordain  that  she  be  not  separated  from  the  Eng- 
lish connection.  Hence  the  necessity  for  fac- 
ing facts  and  studying  the  German  social  or- 
ganization, its  ramifications,  unity,  solidarity, 


Ireland  at  the  Crossroads  53 

business  methods,  and  how  they  may  be  brought 
into  intimate  relation  with  the  people  of  Ire- 
land in  the  event  of  Germany  replacing  Eng- 
land as  the  dominant  European  power. 


CHAPTER  III 

IRISH  HOPES  IN  GERMANY  OR  ENGLAND 

Every  attempt  to  govern  Ireland  has  been  from  an 
English  standpoint,  and  as  if  for  the  benefit  of  Eng- 
lishmen alone. — Dr.  Thomas  Addis  Emmet. 

One  thing  seems  certain  at  this  writing — Ger- 
many will  not  lose  the  war  and  will  either 
triumph  or  force  a  peace  which  may  recast  the 
map  of  Europe  and,  perhaps,  Asia.  She  is 
fighting  everywhere  in  the  enemy's  territory, 
always  on  the  offensive,  occupying  and  living 
off  of  400,000  square  miles  of  the  best  lands  of 
her  opponents.  Her  eagles  are  flying  victori- 
ously over  several  capitals.  She  is  conducting 
the  war  at  one-fourth  the  cost  to  her  enemies, 
and  her  mobilization  of  industry,  agriculture 
and  science  at  home  is  truly  as  wonderful  as  her 
military  achievements. 

The  news  of  the  unparalleled  German  suc- 
cesses is  slowly  filtering  through  to  press-cen- 
sored Ireland,  so  that  even  the  peasants  now 
distrust  all  English  news,  and  scarcely  a  hand- 
ful of  recruits  can  be  obtained  along  the  west 

54 


Irish  Hopes  in  Germany  or  England      55 

coast  of  Ireland.  There  is  much  official  uneasi- 
ness over  the  escape  of  German  prisoners  from 
military  prisons  in  Ireland,  abetted  by  the 
growing  numbers  of  German  sympathizers. 

When  the  writer  was  in  England  and  Ireland 
at  the  opening  of  the  war,  the  English  really  be- 
lieved that  the  Russians  were  to  take  Berlin  in- 
side of  three  or  four  months.  Colonel  Johnston, 
His  Majesty's  recruiting  officer  at  Enniskillen, 
County  Fermanagh,  told  the  writer  in  Septem- 
ber of  1914  that,  in  his  judgment,  the  Russians 
would  have  their  Christmas  dinner  at  Berlin. 

Poland  and  Ireland — Warsaw  and  Dublin — 
two  countries  and  two  capitals,  linked  together 
in  all  Irish  historic  thoughts  of  what  might  have 
been,  so  much  alike  in  their  history,  religion, 
genius,  sufferings  and  monuments.  In  no  place 
outside  of  Poland  will  her  fate  or  destiny,  from 
now  on,  be  watched  more  anxiously  than  among 
the  students  of  Irish  history  and  literature  and 
the  friends  of  Irish  freedom. 

Early  in  the  present  year  we  said: 

The  rapidity  and  sureness  with  which  the  German 
armies  drove  the  Russians  from  Eastern  Prussia  will 
mean  the  taking  of  Warsaw.  With  the  support  of  the 
Austrians,  it  is  certain  that  Russia  not  only  will  be 


56   What  Could  Germany  Do  For  Ireland? 

utterly  unable  to  reach  Berlin,  but  cannot  hope  to 
succeed  in  an  invasion  of  Germany.  In  railway  com- 
munications and  commissaries'  supplies  the  Russians 
are  inferior  and  unable  to  cope  with  the  superior  Ger- 
man methods.  These  superior  preparations,  com- 
bining unexampled  qualities  of  skill  and  efficiency, 
offset  the  vast  hordes  of  Russians;  brains,  not  num- 
bers, will  win. 

The  writer  further  said : 

England  is  bluffing  the  world  but  will  be  found  out 
before  the  end  of  the  war,  when  events  will  determine 
whether  Russia  or  England  is  running  the  closest  race 
for  the  first  prize  as  the  most  inefficient  unit  in  the 
war,  aside  from  her  wealth. 


Most  of  the  world  thinks  only  of  the  power 
of  money,  and  has  taken  it  for  granted  that 
England  would  buy  her  way  to  victory  through 
alliances  and  promises  of  territory,  and  that 
the  apparently  unlimited  power  of  British  gold 
and  her  command  of  the  seas  would  soon  extin- 
guish Germany.  As  the  British  Empire  gar- 
ners its  wealth  from  three-fourths  of  the  world, 
twelve  hundred  million  dollars  of  it  thus  early 
have  been  poured  on  American  shores  for  muni- 
tions of  war,  thus  hardening  and  corrupting 
millions  of  our  people.  Yet  this  will  not  avail. 
The  war  has  cost  Eussia  $5,000,000,000,  com- 


Irish  Hopes  in  Germany  or  England      57 

pleting,    if    continued,    the    financial    ruin    of 

France  and  England,  while  the  whole  world  is 

witness  to  the  Russian  collapse.     Despite  the 

pretended  scoffing  of  the  submarines,  they  have 

destroyed  ships  and  cargoes  to  the  value  of 

more  than  a  billion  dollars. 

It  is  time  for  Ireland  to  take  stock,  face  the 

world  of  the  future,  a  new  world  and  map  of 

nations,  and  see  where  she  is  coming  out.    One 

of  our  most  popular  ballads  contains  the  lines : 

I  met  with  Napper  Tandy, 
And  he  took  me  by  the  hand 
And  said  how  is  poor  old  Ireland, 
And  how  does  she  stand  ? 

HOW  DOES  IEELAND   STAND? 

We  know  in  America  that  the  overwhelming 
majority  of  men  and  women  who  have  ever 
taken  any  interest  in  the  Irish  National  cause 
strongly  sympathize  with  Germany  as  against 
England.  They  are  not  unfriendly  to  France 
or  Belgium,  and  they  would  be  more  nearly 
unanimous  if  the  outcome  of  the  struggle  was 
confined  to  England  and  Germany.  The  pic- 
ture of  Belgium  has  had  to  be  painted  and  re- 
painted many  times  to  keep  the  eye  arrested  of 


58   What  Could  Germany  Do  For  Ireland? 

even  those  Irish- Americans  who  profess  to  sup- 
port England  as  the  belated  defender  of  small 
nations.  With  one  exception,  the  weekly  news- 
papers in  the  United  States  which  make  a  spe- 
cialty of  Irish  news  are  supporting  the  German 
cause  as  against  the  British.  The  largest  so- 
ciety, the  Ancient  Order  of  Hibernians  of  Amer- 
ica, with  200,000  members,  has  steadfastly  op- 
posed Mr.  Redmond's  recruiting  campaign. 
Not  a  single  public  meeting  has  been  held  in  the 
United  States  favorable  to  Mr.  Redmond  or  his 
recruiting  policy  since  the  outbreak  of  the  war. 
Men  who  still  cling  to  his  organization  on  this 
side,  the  United  Irish  League,  say  they  are 
sending  no  money  across  this  year.  The  revolu- 
tionary societies  show  many  signs  of  strength 
and  have  the  support  of  several  newspapers. 
With  one  or  two  notable  exceptions,  the  many 
Catholic  newspapers  of  the  United  States  waste 
few  words  in  favor  of  the  position  of  the  Brit- 
ish government  in  this  war.  At  first  their  edi- 
tors were  carried  away  by  sympathy  for  Bel- 
gium, but  as  they  have  come  to  realize  that  war 
was  declared  on  Germany  by  England,  osten- 
sibly to  save  Belgium,  actually  to  destroy  Ger- 


Irish  Hopes  in  Germany  or  England      59 

many  as  an  economic  factor  in  world  produc- 
tion and  distribution  of  commodities,  they  have 
mostly  changed  their  opinions  and  sympathies. 
And  their  opinion  is  not  likely  to  be  altered  by 
Mr.  Redmond's  refusal  to  heed  the  appeal  for 
peace  made  by  the  Bishop  of  Limerick,  in  the 
name  of  His  Holiness,  Pope  Benedict.  This 
disregard  of  the  Papal  appeal,  in  the  name  of 
Christianity  and  humanity,  greatly  shocked 
very  many  Catholics,  for  the  essence  of  the  Red- 
mond answer  is  that  Irish  Catholic  blood  must 
avenge  Belgium  Catholic  blood.  The  writer  has 
received  close  to  1,200  letters  from  the  Catholic 
clergy  in  the  United  States  alone,  and  from 
many  Protestant  ministers,  endorsing  the  views 
laid  down  in  his  book,  "The  King,  the  Kaiser, 
and  Irish  Freedom,"  and  manifesting  the  deep- 
est distrust  of  the  British  Government. 

Despite  the  fact  that  little  news  is  permitted 
to  penetrate  Ireland,  unless  printed  in  a  man- 
ner designed  to  excite  hostility  to  Germany,  the 
British  army,  according  to  the  London  Times, 
has  not  secured  more  than  40,000  recruits  in  the 
Nationalist  sections  of  Ireland ;  that  is,  in  four- 
fifths  of  the  area  of  the  country.     The  only 


60   What  Could  Germany  Do  For  Ireland? 

newspapers  permitted  to  exist  are  those  which 
endorse  the  government.  Prominent  citizens 
have  been  driven  out  of  the  country  and  numer- 
ous arrests  have  taken  place  under  the  Defence 
of  the  Eealm  Act.  Peasants  are  arriving  at  our 
ports  in  large  numbers  to  escape  army  service. 
All  literature  from  America  is  banned  which  is 
found  favorable  to  the  German  cause.  Free- 
dom of  speech  and  press  is  denied  in  all  four 
provinces.  Many  good  people  are  led  to  believe 
that  the  Germans  are  modern  Huns  and  Van- 
dals, merciless  barbarians,  who,  should  they 
land  on  the  shores  of  Ireland,  would  murder 
defenceless  women  and  children. 

The  enormous  war  patronage  of  the  govern- 
ment is  parcelled  out  among  the  party  poli- 
ticians, and  their  retainers  are  billeted  among 
the  pay-roll  men  of  the  government.  War  sup- 
ply orders  tend  to  debauch  people  in  Ireland,  as 
well  as  in  America.  Newspapers  are  further 
subsidized  with  government  advertisements  at 
high  rates.  A  standing  army  of  60,000  troops 
is  stationed  at  Irish  barracks.  They  are  sorely 
needed  in  Flanders  and  at  the  Dardanelles,  but 
the  government  dare  not  take  them  from  Ire- 


Irish  Hopes  in  Germany  or  England      61 

land,  lest  revolution  follow.  There  are  many- 
smoldering  embers.  Truth  penetrates  the  coun- 
try through  many  obstacles  and  a  haze  of  preju- 
dices. The  geographical  situation  of  the  island 
increases  the  difficulty  of  supplying  the  people 
with  honest  information.  Few  Germans  have 
lived  in  Ireland,  which  renders  the  maligning  of 
that  great  race  the  much  easier. 

IRISH   HOPES  IN  ENGLAND 

Fearing  revolution  in  Ireland,  the  govern- 
ment permitted  the  Irish  Home  Rule  Bill  to 
pass  Parliament,  and  the  King  signed  the  Act. 
This  measure  is  not  to  go  into  effect  until  after 
the  war.  Since  the  passage  of  the  message,  the 
government  has  disintegrated,  through  war 
failures,  and  a  coalition  ministry  has  been 
formed,  with  two  extremely  bitter  enemies  of 
Irish  Nationalism  occupying  most  important 
posts  in  the  new  Cabinet. 

Balfour,  "Bloody  Balfour,"  as  he  is  known 
since  the  cruel  coercion  days,  is  at  the  head  of 
the  British  navy.  Balfour  announced  that  Ire- 
land will  never  have  a  parliament.  England's 
pride  and  hopes  lie  in  her  naval  prestige,  and 


62   What  Could  Germany  Do  For  Ireland? 

it  is  certain  that  Balfour  will  have  vast  influ- 
ence in  estopping  the  establishment  of  the  Home 
Eule  Parliament.  Should  his  work,  at  the  head 
of  the  Admiralty,  be  crowned  with  success,  he 
expects  to  win  sufficient  seats  to  secure  the  re- 
peal of  the  bill.  All  laws  in  a  state  of  suspen- 
sion are  in  danger  of  repeal  or  the  rescinding 
of  vital  enacting  clauses. 

Sir  Edward  Carson,  the  malignant  Ulster 
Orangeman,  was  made  Attorney-General  of  the 
Crown.  Carson  led  the  organization  of  the 
Ulster  Volunteers,  secured  a  fund  from  the 
landlords  to  arm  them,  and  incited  a  civil  war 
in  Ireland  which  threatened  bloodshed,  that  was 
only  averted  by  England's  declaration  of  war 
on  Germany.  He  scoffs  at  the  possibility  of 
Home  Rule,  saying  that  the  Ulster  loyalists,  in 
proportion  to  the  population,  have  sent  six  re- 
cruits to  the  front  where  the  Nationalists  have 
sent  one.  The  Ulster  Volunteers  have  obtained 
arms,  while  the  Irish  Volunteers  have  not  been 
furnished  with  arms  by  the  government,  despite 
the  assurances  of  Mr.  Redmond. 

The  Home  Rule  Act  may  improve  purely  lo- 
cal conditions  and  administrations  in  Ireland. 


Irish  Hopes  in  Germany  or  England     63 

The  measure  will  increase  taxes  and  burden  the 
country  with  place-holders.  There  is  not  a 
glimmer  of  hope  in  it  for  an  industrial  revival 
or  the  return  of  the  commerce  destroyed  by 
English  laws.  In  fact,  the  terms  of  the  bill  ex- 
pressly prohibit  Ireland  from  having  any  con- 
trol over  foreign  trade,  quarantine,  aliens,  navi- 
gation, patents,  banks,  police,  ships  or  mer- 
chant shipping.  Nothing  that  might  chance  to 
encourage  Ireland  to  become  a  competitor  of 
England  in  any  industry  is  permitted.  All  Eng- 
lish laws  governing  Ireland  are  made  as  the 
first  fundamental  that  Ireland  shall  supply 
England  with  part  of  her  food  and  that  Eng- 
land will  supply  her,  in  return,  with  manufac- 
tured goods.  If  Irish  flax  furnishes  a  quality 
of  linen  which  England  cannot  supply,  or  Irish 
whiskey  or  stout  does  not  find  an  Anglo-Saxon 
substitute,  such  Irish  industries  will  not  be  in- 
terfered with. 

When  the  Germans  .sunk  the  super-dread- 
nought " Audacious' '  off  Lough  Swilly,  Done- 
gal, it  marked  a  spot  off  a  naturally  great  and 
deserted  harbor,  in  a  county  made  one  of  the 
poorest  and  most  miserable  by  British  rule. 


64   What  Could  Germany  Do  For  Ireland? 

The  conquerors  took  the  land  away  by  force 
from  these  poor  people  and  drove  them  into  the 
wilds  and  mountains  of  Donegal  to  starve. 
They  have  been  saved  from  extermination  by 
the  faith  and  courage  of  a  tenacious  race ;  and 
as  that  gifted  son  of  that  county,  Seamus 
MacManus,  says,  he  has  not  found  a  Donegal 
man  in  the  United  States  who  has  any  faith  in 
British  promises.  Although  one  of  the  largest 
counties  in  Ireland,  scarcely  600  recruits  have 
been  secured  in  that  county.  None  of  these 
hardy  survivors  of  oppression  can  find  any  ex- 
cuse in  dying  for  England.  As  the  Southern 
Cross  of  Argentina  says,  speaking  for  Latin- 
American  Celts : 

Ireland  would  be  false  to  her  history  and  to  every 
consideration  of  honor,  good  faith  and  self-interest 
if  she  sent  her  children  to  die  on  foreign  battlefields, 
fighting  the  battles  of  the  stranger. 

To  all  true  Celts,  for  all  time,  England  will 
remain  the  Stranger. 

Prior  to  the  war  the  regular  English  army 
recruited  around  40,000  men  each  year.  About 
one-fourth  of  these  were  obtained  in  Ireland. 
The  London  Spectator  says  that  probably  nine 


Irish  Hopes  in  Germany  or  England      65 

out  of  ten  enlisted  through  hunger  and  on  raw, 
wintry  days.  Certainly  the  class  of  men  in  Dub- 
lin and  other  Irish  towns  who  joined  the  Brit- 
ish army  were  homeless  and  penniless,  without 
hope  of  employment,  discouraged,  and  animated 
by  the  thought  of  being  fed  and  clothed  and 
paid  a  little  in  addition.  If  they  had  wives, 
mothers  or  children,  the  government  would  pro- 
vide a  little  for  them.  The  writer  has  seen 
many  soldiers  on  parade  and  never  such  in- 
ferior men,  both  physically  and  mentally,  pasty 
colored,  pipe-stem  legged,  and  ill-fed  lads  as 
march  through  the  streets  of  English  and  Irish 
towns.  And  this  is  the  body  of  luckless  Irish- 
men whom  Premier  Asquith  and  Mr.  Redmond 
style  "the  noblest  manhood  of  the  nation." 

IRISH  HOPES  IN   GERMANY 

In  the  first  volume  of  this  work  ("The  King, 
the  Kaiser,  and  Irish  Freedom" )  the  writer 
proved  the  case  by  official  facts  and  figures  of 
the  destructive  effect  of  British  control  of  the 
industries  and  resources  of  Ireland.  In  all  the 
storms  of  criticism  which  the  appearance  of  the 
book  evoked  in  many  quarters  there  is  no  de- 


66   What  Could  Germany  Do  For  Ireland? 

nial  of  the  charges  in  history  that  England  de- 
liberately destroyed  Irish  commerce  and  indus- 
tries for  the  enrichment  of  English  capitalists 
and  for  the  removal  of  a  formidable  and  dan- 
gerous competitor.  Her  capitalistic  class  has 
been  taught  for  centuries  that  economic  and  in- 
dustrial pressure  makes  her,  in  logic,  a  natural 
opponent  of  her  neighbor,  who  must  be  kept 
weak  in  order  that  her  more  powerful  associate 
may  continue  strong.  This  is  why  England  is 
always  determined  to  make  a  truck  garden  of 
Ireland  and  farming  centre  from  which  the  fac- 
tory workers  of  England  shall  be  fed.  Ireland 
is  to  give  the  life  of  her  fruitful  soil  to  Eng- 
land, the  live  animals  and  raw  materials,  which 
England  pays  for  in  manufactured  commodi- 
ties, clothes,  shoes,  and  finished  products.  She 
develops  no  Irish  harbors  for  the  benefit  of  Ire- 
land, lest  such  development  might  create  Irish 
shipping  for  ports  abroad  now  controlled  by 
English  trade. 

We  have  shown  how  the  English  Parliament 
enacted  laws  which  ruined  the  once  flourishing 
manufacturing  industries  of  the  country.  As 
soon  as  Ireland  developed  an  import  and  ex- 


Irish  Hopes  in  Germany  or  England      67 

port  trade  in  certain  commodities  similar  to 
those  made  in  England,  repressive  legislation 
was  ordered  to  crush  the  life  out  of  the  young 
industries.  There  is  no  small  country  in  the 
world  where  the  traveler  notes  so  many  de- 
serted factory  buildings,  ruins  of  mills,  decay- 
ing water-wheels,  avoided  villages  and  aban- 
doned docks  and  harbors — a  vast  trade  de- 
stroyed that  never  will  be  recovered  while  Eng- 
lish administration  of  Ireland  lasts. 

I  quote  from  my  notes  on  Sligo,  one  of  the  dy- 
ing cities  of  Ireland,  and  there  are  many  Sligos 
in  that  ill-fared  and  deserted  land : 

One  afternoon  I  was  in  a  small  boat  on  Sligo  Bay, 
a  place  visited  by  few  tourists.  Scarcely  a  sail  was 
visible  in  the  great  harbor  provided  by  nature,  ne- 
glected by  man.  We  were  rowed  up  the  Garvogue 
Eiver  by  a  very  old  man  to  Lough  Gill.  No  lake  or 
mountain  scenery  in  Switzerland  or  Colorado  is  more 
beautiful.  And  yet  no  boat  nor  hotel  nor  sign  of 
habitation  on  that  lake  nor  near  it.  Six  miles  distant 
was  the  dying  city  of  Sligo  with  10,000  inhabitants, 
old  and  poor,  the  remnants  of  a  stricken  race.  Sligo 
has  nothing  to  show  at  the  end  of  900  years  but  the 
melancholy  ruins  of  a  once  flourishing  town,  her  aged 
men  and  women  and  their  rags.  Long  since  the  most 
of  the  stalwart  youth  departed  for  foreign  shores.  In 
the  long  twilight  we  saw  the  Irish  Volunteers  drilling 
on  the  green  turf,  grim  and  silent.  They  speak  low 
in  Sligo,  almost  like  a  whisper ;  the  faces  seem  to  have 


I 


68   What  Could  Germany  Do  For  Ireland? 

recorded  in  them  the  lines  of  the  woes  of  centuries; 
and  in  the  silence  of  the  day  they  eye  the  great  har- 
bor, unflecked  by  the  white  sails  of  their  childhood, 
and  they  seem  to  look  across  the  seas  to  their  children 
in  America.  There  was  a  day  when  the  cattle  ships 
for  the  Continent  stopped  at  Sligo.  When  the  cattle 
are  sold  now  they  must  be  first  shipped  on  a  small 
steamer  to  Glasgow  or  Liverpool.  The  English  mid- 
dleman must  have  his  profit.  Iron  is  abundant  in 
Sligo,  but  no  captains  of  industry  are  there  to  mine 
it.  An  Irish- American  dredging  contractor  who  stood 
near  said  that  with  men  and  money  he  could  make 
that  harbor  one  of  the  world's  best  located  shipping 
ports. 

"With  the  map  of  Europe  recast  by  the  war, 
the  interests  of  Germany  demand  the  separa- 
tion from  her  opponents  of  all  strategic  terri- 
tory which  will  prevent  a  new  alignment  of  her 
enemies.  The  Teutonic  forces  must  first  crush 
Eussia  because  of  her  vast  numbers  and  posi- 
tion along  the  frontier,  making  a  constant 
menace,  and  that  can  only  be  done  by  absorbing 
the  Province  of  Couiiand  into  the  German  Em- 
pire and  by  making  Poland  a  free  and  autono- 
mous state  under  German  protection.  Poland 
contains  15,000,000  of  people — including  War- 
saw, the  finest  and  wealthiest  city  in  Russia — 
and  contains  the  best  land  of  any  large  territory 
in  the  Czar's  domains.    All  of  this  territory  is 


Irish  Hopes  in  Germany  or  England      69 

occupied  by  the  Germans.  To  make  Poland  a 
free  state  will  prove  to  the  small  states  and  de- 
mocracies of  the  earth  the  justice  of  Germany's 
claim  that  she  did  not  enter  the  war  for  terri- 
tory or  aggrandizement,  but  for  national  se- 
curity. 

We  now  turn  to  Finland,  where,  like  Ireland, 
the  embers  of  revolution  are  smouldering.  Fin- 
land is  in  the  extreme  of  Russia,  separated  from 
Sweden  by  the  Gulf  of  Bothnia.  The  area  of 
the  province  is  about  three  times  the  size  of  the 
State  of  New  York.  The  climate  is  cold  and 
harsh,  but  it  contains  vast  mineral  deposits  and 
tracts  of  lumber,  with  a  total  foreign  commerce 
of  $100,000,000.  Finland  was  an  independent 
kingdom  for  eight  centuries,  was  conquered  by 
Sweden  in  the  twelfth  century,  and  taken  away 
from  Sweden  by  Eussia  in  1809.  Sweden  has 
been  the  most  friendly  to  Germany  of  all  the 
neutral  countries  since  the  war,  and  undoubt- 
edly is  fostering  the  Finnish  revolution. 

The  taking  away  from  Russia  of  Poland, 
Courland,  Riga  and  Finland  would  cut  the  claws 
of  the  Russian  bear  at  many  points  where  they 
are  sticking  out  into  the  seas.    And  victory  for 


70   What  Could  Germany  Do  For  Ireland? 

Turkey  in  the  Caucasus  region  would  lose  to 
Russian  control  the  Black  Sea  and  the  Caspian 
Sea,  and  revolution  might  reach  across  her  bor- 
ders to  Persia  and  Turkestan.  In  the  East, 
therefore,  if  these  successes  are  attained,  Ger- 
many would  have  built  up  a  number  of  new 
states,  hemming  Eussia  in  much  the  same  way 
that  Germany  was  ringed  around  by  hostile  en- 
emies before  the  war.  Victory  in  the  East 
will  open  a  line  from  the  Baltic  Sea  to 
the  Persian  Gulf.  In  the  west,  we  have 
shown  elsewhere  that  Ireland  is  the  natural 
gateway  to  Europe  from  America  and  the  At- 
lantic Ocean,  and  of  unparalleled  advantage  to 
Germany  in  her  strategic  position  if  made 
friendly  to  Germany  by  being  separated  from 
the  British  Empire  and  made  a  free  nation,  with 
Germany  as  her  ally  and  the  United  States  as 
her  friend.  Our  friends  at  Berlin  are  giving 
serious  consideration  to  the  plan  of  assisting  in 
the  liberation  of  Ireland,  thus  insuring  her  fu- 
ture on  the  other  side  of  the  Atlantic  Ocean,  and 
the  guarantees  of  her  friendship  have  been 
given  to  the  representatives  (now  in  Germany) 
of  Ireland  as  a  nation. 


Irish  Hopes  in  Germany  or  England      71 

The  Wyndham  Land  Act  and  the  Laborers' 
Act  have  alleviated  to  a  limited  extent  the  con- 
dition of  the  Irish  peasantry  by  substituting 
modern  dwellings  on  farms  for  the  wretched 
hovels  and  thatched  cabins  common  in  Ireland. 
But  the  housing  of  the  people  in  the  cities  is  ne- 
glected by  the  government.  In  the  proper  hous- 
ing of  the  people,  in  public  hygiene  and  sanita- 
tion, the  system  prevailing  in  Germany,  if  ap- 
plied to  Ireland,  would  reduce  the  rate  of  death 
and  sickness,  and  help  to  save  the  many  miser- 
able people  condemned  to  a  living  death  in  the 
poor  tenements  of  Dublin.  The  evidence  taken 
before  the  local  government  board  for  Ireland 
on  the  living  conditions  of  the  poor  in  Dublin 
is  a  frightful  reminder  of  the  neglect  and  misery 
of  the  Irish  capital.  The  Dublin  corporation,  in 
providing  for  artisans'  dwellings,  has  achieved 
good  results,  but  is  handicapped  for  want  of 
funds,  and  so  this  beneficial  work  is  arrested. 

The  5,322  tenement  houses  in  the  city  con- 
tain 35,227  rooms  and  4,331  cellars  or  kitchens, 
and  of  the  rooms  32,851  are  occupied  and  1,560 
of  the  cellars  are  occupied.  There  are  20,108 
families  occupying  one-roomed  dwellings,  4,402 


72   What  Could  Germany  Do  For  Ireland? 


families  occupying  two  rooms,  821  families  oc- 
cupying three  rooms,  and  491  occupying  four 
rooms.  It  will  thus  be  seen  that  78  per  cent,  of 
the  lettings  are  one-room  lettings.  In  a  special 
report  to  the  Board  of  Trade,  made  in  the  year 
1908,  describing  the  conditions  of  the  working 
classes  in  the  principal  industrial  towns  in  the 
United  Kingdom,  Dublin  is  singled  out  as  a  city 
of  one-room  tenements,  a  fact  which  is  fully 
demonstrated  by  the  following  table  taken  from 
Table  XIX.,  Page  XV.  of  Volume  VIII.  of  Cen- 
sus for  England  and  Wales,  1911 : 

NUMBER  OF  TENEMENTS  OF  ONE  ROOM,  OF  TWO 

ROOMS,  OF  THREE  ROOMS,  OF  FOUR  ROOMS, 

PER  1,000  TOTAL  TENEMENTS  IN  PRINCIPAL 

CITIES  OF  UNITED  KINGDOM 


a  +. 

s  c 

p  v 

£  a 

°  a 

*! 

a  g 

a 

53 
P 

.d 

69 
9 

,a 

a 

i 

3 

a 

o 

§ 

o 
o 

Q. 

u 
> 

3 

CO 

c 
a 

1 

be 

C 

a 

S 

H 

B   a 

£ 

1 

339 

94 

200 

134 

54 

18 

10 

6 

2 

210 

316 

462 

190 

74 

35 

21 

41 

3 

105 

219 

189 

213 

132 

97 

305 

50 

4 

104 

144 

66- 

159 

185 

406 

165 

239 

The  average  earnings  of  one-fourth  of  the 
heads  of  families  living  in  these  tenements  were 


Irish  Hopes  in  Germany  or  England      73 

less  than  $3.75  per  week;  one-third  earned  from 
$3.75  to  $5.00  per  week,  the  balance  from  $6.00 
to  $7.00  per  week. 

In  Berlin,  for  every  one  man  in  this  condi- 
tion there  are  sixty-four  in  Dublin,  and  the  num- 
ber of  single-room  family  dwellings  in  German 
cities  is  so  small  as  to  be  negligible.  These 
" homes' '  of  the  Irish  poor  have  no  closets,  and 
are  foul,  dark  and  extremely  unhealthy.  In 
Germany  the  government  has  taken  in  hand  the 
building  of  artisans'  dwellings.  The  writer  has 
looked  over  tenement  areas  in  other  cities  and 
found  the  most  unsanitary  conditions  in  Dublin. 
Nowhere  have  I  seen  so  many  broken  down  and 
infirm  people  trying  to  live.  The  earnings  do 
not  admit  of  fire  except  in  the  severest  weather, 
and  the  shivering,  emaciated,  poorly  fed  and 
clothed  children  wring  the  heart-strings  of  the 
visitor.  Contrast  these  abodes  with  the  work- 
ingmen's  apartments  of  dwelling  in  Germany. 
There  we  find  the  art  of  city  planning, 
which  is  being  copied  in  America,  of  which 
but  little  is  known  in  Ireland.  The  rate 
of  growth  in  German  cities  is  the  largest  in  the 
world.    The  Irish  cities  are  badly  laid  out,  de- 


74  What  Could  Germany  Do  For  Ireland? 

f  ective  in  sewerage  and  sanitation,  and  there  is 
a  lack  of  artistic  taste — a  general  air  of  "well, 
it  doesn't  matter;  we  have  no  money  for  im- 
provements. ' ' 

Thomas  A.  Edison,  onr  foremost  inventor, 
said,  on  returning  from  Germany: 

The  workingmen  of  New  York  City  are  not  housed 
as  are  those  in  Berlin.  What  a  contrast  to  the  dread- 
ful tenements  which  disgrace  and  deface  New  York's 
crowded  districts.  The  workingmen 's  dwellings  in 
Berlin  are  not  tenements ;  they  may  be  better  referred 
to  as  apartment  houses,  beautifully  constructed,  per- 
fectly supplied  with  light  and  air,  safe  against  fire, 
and  made  up  of  large  and  conveniently  arranged 
rooms. 

What  place  is  more  dull  at  night  for  a 
stranger  than  an  Irish  city,  where  even  one  may 
not  hear  an  Irish  song  sung.  The  music  halls 
are  small,  the  seats  uncomfortable,  the  theatres 
dirty,  badly  ventilated,  and  the  comedians  and 
musical  sketches  mostly  imported  and  sung  by 
London  cockneys. 

The  smallest  city  in  Germany  has  a  public 
music  garden  for  the  traveler  at  night.  There 
are  municipal  and  state  theatres,  good  plays 
and  wholesome  comedy  for  all  classes.  The 
Irish,  the  most  witty  and  humorous  race,  are 


Irish  Hopes  in  Germany  or  England     75 

devoid  of  opportunity  for  such  social  amuse- 
ments. Berlin  gave  $500,000  to  a  man  who  had 
put  in  $1,250,000,  on  condition  that  he  give  a 
certain  number  of  plays  for  school  children,  the 
price  of  admission  not  to  exceed  12y2c.  The 
result  is  the  elevation  of  the  dramatic  and  musi- 
cal art  among  all  classes  of  people. 

Opera  is  almost  a  lost  art  in  Ireland,  where 
the  Golden  Harp  is  the  emblem  of  the  race  and 
where,  in  olden  days,  the  melodies  immortalized 
by  Moore  and  the  songs  of  her  bards  and  com- 
posers thrilled  the  Irish  world.  Her  larks  now 
sing  in  other  lands. 

WHY  GERMANY  IS  NOT  STARVING 

The  signal  failure  of  the  British  attempt  to 
starve  Germany  ought  to  be  a  lesson  that  would 
draw  on  the  memory  of  the  children  of  the  Irish 
emigrants  wherever  found.  They  should  con- 
trast the  neglect,  and  worse,  of  the  British  Gov- 
ernment of  1846  with  the  German  Government 
of  1915. 

The  Irish  famine  is  the  black  curse  that 
haunts  the  memories  of  our  old  people  and 
sends  over  to  America  shiploads  of  weakly  peas- 


76   What  Could  Germany  Do  For  Ireland? 

ant  boys  from  the  potato  fields  of  Ireland  who 
dread  joining  the  British  army.  We  are  told  we 
have  bitter  memories  and  in  the  light  of  the  fam- 
ine contributions  we  should  forget  and  forgive 
British  misgovernment  in  Ireland,  for  there 
may  come  a  better  day.  We  will  merely  say, 
then,  that  the  government  was  incompetent  to 
prepare  for  the  famine.  In  1841  the  population 
of  Ireland  was  8,175,124,  and  probably  close  to 
9,000,000  in  1845,  all  under  the  "efficient"  agri- 
cultural rule  of  England — nearly  dependent  on 
one  vegetable,  the  potato.  The  potato  crop  of 
America  in  1844  suffered  from  blight,  but  no 
warning  came  from  the  British  Government  of- 
ficials. The  officers  dallied,  postponed  putting 
forth  measures  of  relief,  delayed  the  plans  to 
divide  the  crops,  although  the  crop  of  the  year 
before  was  a  failure,  muddling  as  usual,  and  in 
July,  1846,  the  blight  fell  on  Ireland,  and  the 
most  fearful  horror  that  can  scourge  a  people — 
grim,  universal  starvation — clutched  the  coun- 
try in  its  horrible  embrace.  One-fourth  of  all 
the  people  were  swept  from  the  country ;  a  mil- 
lion died  of  hunger ;  a  million  more  expatriated, 
starving,  dying  in  the  holds  of  sailing  ships ;  the 


Irish  Hopes  in  Germany  or  England      77 

bones  of  thousands  lay  along  the  reaches  of  the 
St.  Lawrence,  the  bodies  of  their  children  fed 
to  the  fishes,  thrown  overboard  from  the  fam- 
ine-fevered ships  hurrying  away  from  that 
blighted  land.  The  absentee  English  landlords 
refused  to  visit  Ireland,  although  to  some  of 
them  the  famine  spelled  ruin.  Relief  works  or- 
ganized by  an  inefficient  government  in  London 
came  too  late — the  wretched  people  were 
doomed.  In  the  late  summer  of  1846  mourners 
or  coffins  or  shrouds  were  not  to  be  had 
for  the  funerals.  Horses  and  carts  gathered 
up  the  dead  for  interment  in  "  famine 
pits." 

At  the  opening  of  the  war  we  were  told  that 
Germany  would  starve,  as  Ireland,  because  the 
blockade  would  cut  off  her  wheat  and  food  sup- 
ply. No  one  talks  of  starving  Germany  now! 
The  government  ordered  that  all  bread  should 
contain  some  flour  made  with  potatoes,  and 
bread  is  cheaper  in  Berlin  than  in  Dublin. 
Every  ton  of  supplies  from  outside  may  be  cut 
off  and  Germany  will  live.  She  cannot  be 
starved  by  the  British  blockade,  and  Ireland 
would  not  have  been  destroyed  by  famine  if 


78   What  Could  Germany  Do  For  Ireland? 

German  governmental  methods  of  agriculture 
had  been  employed.  With  Germany  as  an  ally 
of  Ireland,  she  would  have  chemists  and  scien- 
tists in  agriculture  to  save  her  from  such  a  fate. 
When  the  blockade  shut  Germany  off  from  oil, 
she  was  able  to  substitute  alcohol  extracted 
from  the  potato  for  her  motors.  Her  govern- 
ment is  too  far-sighted  to  permit  her  farmers  to 
center  on  any  special  crop,  and  no  such  disasters 
in  the  fields  as  have  been  experienced  in  Ireland 
could  take  place  in  Germany. 

Herbert  Spencer  defines  organization  as  the 
ability  to  bring  all  available  knowledge  and  en- 
ergy to  bear  upon  the  problem  at  hand  when 
needed.  This  peculiar  method  of  mind  is  a 
German  national  endowment — the  result  of 
thorough,  patient  study.  Transfer  their 
methods  of  production  to  Ireland,  and  they  will 
find  a  way  of  doing  things  well  which  will  over- 
come both  Irish  and  English  neglect.  The  Ger- 
mans have  demonstrated  these  qualities  in 
every  branch  of  administration.  On  each  sub- 
urban lot  containing  two-thirds  of  an  acre,  dur- 
ing the  war  the  owner  must  grow  half  an  acre 
of  potatoes,  on  which  he  usually  raises  125 


Irish  Hopes  in  Germany  or  England      79 

bushels.  The  beautiful  rose  gardens  of  Berlin 
were  turned  into  potato  farms.  Production  for 
the  needs  of  the  people  was  not  reckoned  in 
dollars,  but  in  quality  and  quantity  of  starch, 
heat  units,  proteins,  etc.  How  much  does  each 
inhabitant  need  to  eat?  The  feeding  of  hogs 
and  cattle  must  be  reduced  to  save  food  for  the 
people.  All  waste  land  must  be  cultivated,  and 
400,000  Eussian  prisoners  are  draining  swamps 
for  next  year's  crops.  All  this  machinery  was 
devised  and  operated  in  three  months,  while 
Lloyd  George  was  denouncing  the  British  work- 
ing class  for  their  shiftlessness  and  intemper- 
ance. As  a  result  of  organization,  sacrifice, 
unity  and  mobilization  of  all  the  people,  whether 
on  or  off  the  battlefields,  at  home  or  abroad, 
Germany  is  conducting  successful  warfare  at 
one-third  the  total  daily  cost  of  her  foes.  Her 
people  have  demonstrated  to  the  world  that  they 
have  the  ability  to  organize  society  as  a  social 
unit,  incomparable  with  the  rotting  British  sys- 
tem of  individualism  and  selfishness.  Young 
Ireland  can  well  afford  to  seize  this  opportunity 
to  inquire  on  which  side  lies  success  or  failure 
after  the  war. 


80   What  Could  Germany  Do  For  Ireland? 

THE  GERMAN  NATION  HAS  NO   QUARREL  WITH  THE 
IRISH   PEOPLE 

The  men  at  the  helm  in  Germany  know  that 
the  people  of  Ireland  have  no  liberty  and  have 
no  voice  in  the  war  which  England  declared  on 
Germany.  The  only  member  of  the  British 
Cabinet  from  Ireland  during  the  war  was  Sir 
Edward  Carson — an  inveterate  enemy  of  the 
Irish  National  cause. 

Although  there  are  fortified  places  in  Ireland 
— docks,  wharves  and  military  barracks — there 
have  been  no  attacks  made  on  the  Irish  coasts, 
and  the  Zeppelins  have  not  dropped  bombs  on 
Ireland,  although  the  war  has  now  lasted  nearly 
a  year  and  a  half,  and  Ireland  is  a  component 
part  of  the  British  Empire  and  a  small  partner 
in  Great  Britain.  There  would  be  every  mili- 
tary reason  for  assailing  Ireland  as  well  as 
England,  but  the  Germans  know  that  in  Ireland, 
as  well  as  in  America,  there  is  a  large  class  of 
Celts  who  are  not  deceived  as  to  the  cause  or  the 
origin  of  the  war,  and  who  believe  that  the  best 
interests  of  Ireland  eventually  rest  in  the  vic- 
tories that  may  come  to  German  arms. 

Up  to  the  present  time  the  German  Govern- 


Irish  Hopes  in  Germany  or  England      81 

ment  has  made  good  the  announcement  made  by 
the  German  Foreign  Office  on  November  20, 
1914,  when  the  German  Secretary  of  State  for 
Foreign  Affairs  made  the  following  official 
statement  on  behalf  of  the  Imperial  Chancellor, 
ven  Bethmann  Hollweg : 

The  Imperial  Government  rejects  with  the  utmost 
decision  the  evil  intentions  ascribed  to  it.  The  Gov- 
ernment takes  this  opportunity  of  making  the  cate- 
gorical assurance  that  Germany  cherishes  only  senti- 
ments of  good  will  for  the  prosperity  of  the  Irish 
people,  their  land,  and  their  institutions.  The  Im- 
perial Government  declares  formally  that  Germany 
would  not  invade  Ireland  with  any  intention  of  con- 
quest or  of  the  destruction  of  any  institutions.  If, 
in  the  course  of  this  war,  which  Germany  did  not 
seek,  the  fortune  of  arms  should  ever  bring  German 
troops  to  the  coasts  of  Ireland,  they  would  land  there, 
not  as  an  army  of  invaders  coming  to  rob  or  destroy, 
but  as  the  fighting  forces  of  a  government  inspired 
only  by  good  will  toward  a  land  and  a  people  for 
whom  Germany  only  wishes  national  prosperity  and 
national  freedom. 


The  people  of  Ireland  are  coming  to  notice 
that  the  fortified  British  bases  in  Ireland  have 
not  been  attacked,  although  again  and  again 
they  have  heard  the  sound  of  the  German  guns 
off  the  Irish  coast.  The  German  submarines 
make  it  a  rule,  as  far  as  possible,  to  save  Irish 


82   What  Could  Germany  Do  For  Ireland? 

fishing  boats  and  trawlers  when  they  are  iden- 
tified. 

The  people  of  Ireland  have  much  sympathy 
for  France  and  Belgium.  They  are  the  two 
countries  that  hold  some  sections  of  the  Irish 
race  in  line  for  England,  but  there  is  no  love 
lost  for  England  in  most  of  the  counties  in  Ire- 
land. She  cares  nothing  about  Servia,  Eussia 
or  Japan,  and  she  always  respected  Austria- 
Hungary  and  greatly  admired  Germany  before 
the  war.  This  is  not  Ireland's  war,  and  the  pity 
is  that  any  Irishman  should  have  to  die  to  save 
England. 

The  British  control  the  press  of  Ireland. 
Twelve  Irish  Nationalist  newspapers  have  been 
suppressed,  and  of  course  it  is  thus  very  easy  to 
malign  the  German  race  and  make  people  swal- 
low falsities. 

There  are  scarcely  any  Germans  in  Ireland. 
The  language  is  strange,  and  the  minds  of  many 
people  are  influenced  in  Ireland  by  the  unjust 
charges  against  Germany,  just  as  we  find  well- 
meaning  people  in  America  misled  by  the  Brit- 
ish cables,  but  the  scales  are  dropping  from 
many  Irish  eyes  and  the  truth  is  being  seen. 


Irish  Hopes  in  Germany  or  England      83 

They  recall  the  fact  that  Germany  preserves 
the  Irish  language  in  her  colleges,  and  that  Ger- 
man professors  are  among  the  most  noted 
scholars  in  the  language  and  history  of  ancient 
Ireland.  They  recall  that  some  years  ago  the 
German  fleet  visited  Irish  ports  and  the  enjoy- 
ment of  the  crews  who  witnessed  the  national 
games  in  Ireland.  They  are  reminded  that 
when  the  great  Hamburg- American  Steamship 
Line  proposed  to  have  its  steamers  stop  at  Cork 
harbor,  both  on  their  eastward  and  westward 
journey,  after  the  English  declaration  that  the 
principal  English  steamers  would  no  longer 
stop  at  Queenstown,  addresses  of  welcome  and 
gratitude  were  forwarded  to  Germany  by  the 
municipal  corporations  and  other  bodies  in  Ire- 
land. For  the  first  time  the  flags  of  Ireland, 
Germany  and  America  were  interwoven,  and 
there  was  deep  regret  when  the  British  Govern- 
ment forced  the  Hamburg-American  Line  to 
abandon  its  intended  and  advertised  sailings 
from  the  port  of  Cork. 


CHAPTER  IV 

THE   REAL   ROOTS    OF    GERMAN    SUCCESS 

In  the  second  month  of  the  war  the  writer,  in 
company  with  an  English  friend,  was  riding 
atop  of  a  motor  bus,  passing  through  a  factory- 
working-class  district  in  London.  He  thought 
the  Russians  would  take  Berlin  by  Christmas 
and  the  " Huns' '  would  be  driven  from  France 
and  Belgium  in  short  order,  and  that  English 
brawn  and  money,  with  nearly  the  whole  world's 
support,  would  soon  destroy  Germany.  He  was 
merely  repeating  the  stereotyped  phrases  of  the 
day  and  place.  The  writer  casually  reminded 
him  there  was  a  difference  in  men,  as  the  result 
of  national  system,  training  and  discipline, 
which  in  the  modern  art  of  scientific  war  might 
prove  more  essential  than  men  or  money.  Just 
then  the  factory  workers  poured  forth  from  the 
mills.  My  friend,  who  had  passed  much  of  his 
life  in  America,  took  sharp  notice  of  the  men 
and  women,  many  of  them  worn  and  spent 
ahead  of  their  time,  shrunken,  colorless,  with 

84 


The  Real  Roots  of  German  Success      85 

stooping  shoulders  and  bad  chests,  until  he 
sadly  admitted  that  the  men  were  not  fitted  to 
cope  with  trained  men.  ' i  They  seem  to  be  badly 
fed,"  he  said,  and  he  was  enwrapped  in  gloom 
after  he  saw  the  wretched  condition  of  the 
women  and  children  crowded  in  the  many  sin- 
gle-room family  tenements  of  the  neighborhood. 

More  than  thirty  years  ago  Bismarck  de- 
livered the  ideas  of  the  German  Government 
and  put  the  working-class  laws  into  effect  which 
have  resulted  in  the  almost  undisputed  superi- 
ority of  the  Teutonic  forces  in  every  branch  of 
labor  and  endurance  called  forth  by  the  strug- 
gles of  the  past  year. 

Bismarck  proclaimed  the  German  doctrine  in 

these  words : 

Give  the  workingman  work  as  long  as  he  is  healthy, 
assure  him  care  when  he  is  sick,  insure  him  mainte- 
nance when  he  is  old.  Yfas  not  the  right  to  work 
openly  proclaimed  at  the  time  of  the  publication  of 
the  common  law?  Is  it  not  established  in  our  social 
arrangements  that  the  man  who  comes  before  his 
fellow  citizens  and  says,  "I  am  healthy;  I  desire  to 
work  but  can  find  no  work,"  is  entitled  to  say  also, 
'  'Give  me  work,"  and  that  the  state  is  bound  to  give 
him  work? 

"But  large  public  works  would  be  neces- 
sary,' '  exclaimed  an  opponent.    "Of  course/ ' 


86   What  Could  Germany  Do  For  Ireland? 

replied  Bismarck.  "Let  them  be  undertaken; 
why  not?  It  is  the  state's  duty."  Then  fol- 
lowed state  insurance  for  the  sick  and  aged,  in- 
dustrial pensions,  regulation  of  food  prices,  re- 
striction of  monopolies,  government  ownership, 
and  a  marvelously  complete  government  system 
of  education,  the  like  of  which  exists  in  no  other 
country.  There  is  much  remaining  to  be  done 
in  Germany  and  many  of  her  institutions  and 
methods  are  properly  criticized.  Yet  it  cannot 
be  denied  that  the  government  has  done  much 
to  steadily  better  the  conditions  of  the  workers 
and  their  families  and,  in  co-operative  effort, 
has  long  been  ahead  of  England,  where  middle- 
class  hatred  of  national  team-work  and  class 
consciousness  notoriously  prevent  the  English 
from  working  together  for  the  common  good. 
An  Englishman  with  wealth  is  usually  arrogant 
and  considers  himself  virtuous  and  superior  to 
all  poor  people,  blames  them  altogether  for  the 
misery  in  which  they  are  plunged,  and  bitterly 
resists  Lloyd  George's  old-age  pension  laws, 
copied  from  those  which  Germany  had  adopted 
for  decades.  The  student  of  sociological  legis- 
lation invariably  turns  to  Germany  as  the  pio- 


The  Real  Roots  of  German  Success      87 

neer  in  laws  for  the  relief  and  improvement  of 
wage-workers. 

We  quote  the  words  of  Frank  Koester,  a  re- 
liable authority  and  an  engineer  of  renown: 

In  Germany,  as  a  result  of  her  governmental 
bureaus  of  employment  and  the  generally  more  secure 
tenure  of  employment  of  the  employed,  during  a  series 
of  seven  years  ending  1910,  the  total  unemployment 
varied  from  a  little  over  one  to  a  little  less  than  three 
per  cent,  while  during  the  same  period  in  the  United 
States,  based  on  averages  from  statistics  in  certain 
States,  the  unemployment  varied  from  6  to  28  per 
cent. 

It  is  not  to  be  wondered  at  under  such  circum- 
stances that  emigration  from  Germany  to  this 
country  is  only  about  one-fifteenth  of  its  former 
figures.  The  wonder  is  that  there  is  any  emi- 
gration from  Germany.  In  Germany,  one  per- 
son in  four  is  a  wage-earner;  in  the  United 
States  the  ratio  is  one  to  two  and  three-quar- 
ters. Thus  a  much  larger  number  of  persons, 
especially  of  women,  must  work  here.  In  Ger- 
many the  wage-earner  retires  ten  years  sooner 
than  in  America  or  in  England,  where  he  us- 
ually drops  in  his  tracks  first. 

When  the  vast  totals  of  privation,  discourage- 
ment, loss  of  health,  hope  and  savings  are  con- 


88   What  Could  Germany  Do  For  Ireland? 

sidered,  as  shown  by  the  great  percentages  of 
unemployment  in  the  United  States  and  Eng- 
land, even  in  the  best  times,  the  failure  of  Con- 
gress to  organize  the  exchange  of  labor  and  em- 
ployment amounts  to  little  less  than  a  national 
crime.  It  is  a  sad  legislative  spectacle,  that  of 
continual  struggles  for  mean  and  petty  partisan 
advantages  while  the  true  interests  of  the  pub- 
lic are  neglected. 

"Without  government  organization  the  chance 
of  the  workingman  finding  work  would  be  much 
smaller  and  the  risk  would  be  so  much  greater 
that  he  could  not  afford  to  insure  himself 
against  unemployment.  Thus  it  will  be  seen 
that  one  good  system  breeds  another,  whereas 
in  countries  like  the  United  States  and  England, 
where  there  is  little  or  no  system,  and  the  find- 
ing of  employment  is  a  haphazard  proceeding, 
the  establishment  of  a  system  of  insurance 
against  unemployment  would  be  chimerical. 

Having  exerted  its  efforts  in  securing  work 
for  the  workman  and  in  keeping  his  employment 
endurable  and  healthful,  the  German  Govern- 
ment does  not  in  his  age  or  extremity  abandon 
its  workman. 


The  Real  Roots  of  German  Success      89 

During  his  whole  life  he  has  been  compelled 
to  contribute  to  sick  benefit  and  old-age  funds, 
to  which  his  employer  and  government 
must  also  contribute,  so  that  whatever  the 
eventuality,  it  will  already  be  found  provided 
for. 

Compensation  and  benefit  insurance  has  been 
established  in  Germany  since  1881  and  has  from 
time  to  time  been  extended.  The  principal 
forms  are  sick  insurance,  accident  insurance,  in- 
valid insurance,  invalidity  and  old-age  insur- 
ance, maternity  insurance,  widows'  and  or- 
phans '  insurance. 

The  operation  of  this  form  of  insurance 
superseded  claims  for  indemnity  against  pri- 
vate employers  and  substituted,  instead  of  a 
lump  sum  for  accidental  injuries,  small  pay- 
ments made  periodically. 

The  word  pauper  is  unknown  in  Germany,  the 
insurance  systems  having  given  the  workmen  by 
right  the  assistance  which  in  other  countries  is 
extended  as  a  charge  against  the  public.  This 
feeling  of  security  against  the  eventualities  of 
the  future  is  a  powerful  factor  in  the  relations 
of  the  citizen  to  the  state  and  to  his  employers ; 


90  What  Could  Germany  Do  For  Ireland? 

it  makes  life  more  livable  for  the  poor  man  in 
Germany  than  it  is  in  any  other  country. 

Thus  the  insurance  systems  as  instigated  by 
Bismarck  and  today  copied  by  practically  all 
civilized  countries  the  world  over,  lend  a  back- 
bone of  confidence  to  the  whole  empire.  The 
wolf  cannot  approach  the  door  so  closely,  and 
whatever  may  happen,  there  is  a  margin  of 
financial  safety,  a  breakwater  between  the 
worker  and  necessity,  which  does  not  involve 
charity. 

Thus  he  feels  freer  to  devote  his  energies  to 
his  work  and  the  result  is  efficiency ;  indeed,  the 
highest  state  of  efficiency  which  has  ever  been 
reached  by  any  nation. 

A  capitalist  of  renown  in  America,  Mr. 
George  W.  Perkins,  has  noted  the  success  of 
Germany,  as  contrasted  with  the  United  States 
and  England,  in  dealing  with  large  industrial 
units.  In  speaking  of  the  failures  of  American 
trust  regulating  Mr.  Perkins  said: 

While  these  things  have  been  happening  in  our  own 
country,  our  greatest  industrial  competitor,  Ger- 
many, has  been  pursuing  exactly  the  opposite  course. 
While  our  so-called  statesmen  have  been  haranguing 
our  people  on  the  subject  of  giant  corporations  being 


The  Real  Roots  of  German  Success      91 

a  menace  to  their  liberty,  to  their  business,  and  physi- 
cal welfare,  and  have  been  demanding  that  we  return 
to  the  methods  of  ruthless  competition  and  abandon 
co-operation,  German  statesmen  have  been  preaching 
exactly  the  opposite  doctrine  to  their  people.  For 
twenty-five  years  Germany  and  this  country  have 
been  pursuing  opposite  economic  policies.  Our  Sher- 
man Law  was  passed  twenty-five  years  ago ;  and  since 
that  time,  and  particularly  during  the  past  fifteen 
years,  our  politicians  have  thrived  and  grown  fat  in 
an  effort  to  force  our  business  men  to  be  business  men 
under  a  literal  interpretation  of  that  law,  which,  our 
politicians  have  told  us,  means  the  breaking  up  of  all 
large  business  units  and  the  holding  of  our  commer- 
cial relations  to  a  strictly  competitive  basis. 

Twenty-five  years  ago  Germany  was  the  land  of  the 
small  industrial  unit,  and  her  people  were  leaving  the 
country  every  year  in  large  numbers,  seeking  some 
other  land  where  they  hoped  to  find  better  industrial 
conditions.  Then  Germany  gradually  changed  her 
system  of  economics.  Her  political  leaders,  her  states- 
men, with  great  foresight  and  after  careful  thought 
and  study,  realized  that  modern  intercommunication 
must  inevitably  mean  centralization,  vast  expansion 
in  trading  opportunities,  vast  responsibilities  for  the 
State,  vast  additional  powers  for  the  man  of  large 
mental  endowment  and  of  large  means. 

In  place  of  passing  laws  to  repress  and  repel  and 
prohibit  all  this,  the  Germans  took  exactly  the  oppo- 
site course  and  began  to  gather  these  industries  to- 
gether into  large  units,  under  the  watchful  eye  of 
the  government  or  under  the  actual  control  of  the 
government  in  some  form.  Rapidly,  and  practically 
in  unison  with  the  mighty  growth  of  intercommunica- 
tion, Germany  has  forged  ahead  during  the  last 
twenty-five  years,  centralizing  her  various  industries, 
until  now  nearly  every  industry  in  Germany  is  or- 
ganized and  centralized  in  some  form  of  large  busi- 


92   What  Could  Germany  Do  For  Ireland? 

ness  unit.  As  a  result,  great  commercial  power  and 
vast  commercial  profits  have  come  to  her  people.  And 
now,  mark  this  well:  While  this  centralization  has 
been  going  on  emigration  from  Germany  has  fallen 
from  what  was  a  very  large  figure  twenty-five  years 
ago  practically  to  zero  during  the  last  two  or  three 
years.  Does  not  this  rebuke  the  theories  of  our  poli- 
ticians and  so-called  statesmen  ?  For  the  theory  they 
have  been  preaching  has  been  that  if  we  permitted 
centralization  and  co-operation  in  business,  it  would 
bring  hardship  and  ruin  to  our  people. 

Whatever  may  be  said  or  thought  regarding  Ger- 
many's attitude  in  the  present  war,  no  thoughtful, 
studious  man,  who  has  taken  the  pains  to  study  Ger- 
many's commercial  evolution  during  the  last  twenty- 
five  years,  can  for  one  moment  doubt  that  her  states- 
men have  been  on  the  right  industrial  track ;  that  they 
have  been  long-headed  and  far-sighted ;  that  they  have 
cast  off  the  economics  of  the  past  and  taken  on  the 
economics  of  the  future ;  that  they  have  discarded  old 
laws  and  old  methods  and  enacted  new  laws  and 
adopted  new  methods,  to  keep  abreast  of  the  new  age 
in  which  the  world  is  moving  and  living;  and  that 
all  this  has  been  to  the  great  material  advantage  of 
Germany's  people  as  a  whole. 

Control  of  the  seas  so  long,  wealth  from  all 
parts  of  the  world  pouring  into  the  laps  of  her 
landlord  and  capitalistic  class,  idle  parasites  on 
the  one  hand,  idle  workingmen  on  the  other,  in- 
difference of  the  wealthy  and  powerful  to  the 
struggles  and  weaknesses  of  the  masses  in 
crowded  cities,  so  blinded  the  English  nation 
that  her  people  failed  to  see  the  methods  by 


The  Real  Roots  of  German  Success      93 

which  German  achievements  were  won.  She 
has  sought  through  charity,  rather  than  justice, 
to  appease  her  oppressed  working  people.  Con- 
fident of  her  supreme  control  of  the  waters  of 
the  world,  England  has  been  lulled  into  a  fan- 
cied sense  of  security.  None  could  enter  her 
world.  Germany,  the  cock-pit  of  Europe  for 
centuries,  surrounded  by  vigilant  enemies,  has 
worked  unceasingly  to  strengthen  her  race  and 
her  states.  Sleeping  with  one  eye  open,  the  em- 
pire only  forty  years  young,  always  on  guard, 
working  early  morn,  late  in  the  day,  and  always 
realizing  that  any  national  vice  or  weakness 
meant  insecurity  and  decay,  this  young  giant  of 
confederacy  is  a  new  modern  Germany  where 
genius  makes  war  in  workshops,  colleges  and 
laboratories,  exhausting,  perhaps  destroying 
forever,  the  prestige  of  the  mighty  British  Em- 
pire. 

England,  with  all  her  alliances,  her  vast  pos- 
sessions, population  and  wealth,  according  to 
the  London  Daily  Mail,  finds  herself  in  a  state 
of  "unparalleled  danger."  Her  internal  weak- 
nesses have  made  her  prey  for  her  enemies  and 
her  divisions,  advertised  to  the  world,  along 


94   What  Could  Germany  Do  For  Ireland? 

with  her  enervations,  have   amazed  all   save 
those  who  have  known  of  the  nation's  cancers. 

Germany  has  never  been  unmindful  of  the 
coalition  that  might  be  formed  against  her. 
And  she  has  conserved  the  mental,  moral  and 
physical  strength  of  her  people  to  that  end. 
Quoting  from  Bismarck  in  his  famous  speech 
of  February  6,  1888,  called  "We  Germans  fear 
God,  and  naught  else  in  the  world,"  we  find 
these  words : 

The  thought,  however,  that  we  can  have  one  million 
good  soldiers  for  our  defense  on  either  frontier  will 
be  reassuring.  In  figures  the  others  are  as  strong  as 
we,  but  in  quality  they  cannot  equal  us.  Courage  is 
the  same  with  all  civilized  nations,  but  our  people 
are  trained,  disciplined,  experienced,  who  have  for- 
gotten nothing.  In  addition,  no  nation  in  the  world 
can  equal  us  in  our  material  of  officers  and  subalterns 
to  direct  such  a  huge  army.  This  means  the  remark- 
able degree  to  which  popular  education  has  spread  in 
Germany,  and  which  appears  in  no  other  country. 
The  degree  of  education  which  is  needed  to  qualify  an 
officer  and  a  subaltern  to  command  according  to  what 
the  soldiers  expect  of  them  is  found  with  us  far  more 
extensively  than  elsewhere.  We  have  more  of  the 
material  out  of  which  officers,  and  more  out  of  which 
subalterns  are  made,  than  any  other  country,  and  we 
have  a  body  of  officers  which  no  country  in  the  world 
can  equal. 

This,  and  the  excellence  of  our  subalterns,  who  are 
the  pupils  of  our  officers,  constitute  our  superiority. 
Jhe  other  nations  cannot  equal  us  in  the  amount  of 


The  Real  Roots  of  German  Success      95 

education  which  qualifies  an  officer  to  fulfill  the  se- 
vere requirements  of  his  station,  and  of  good  com- 
radeship to  bear  all  the  necessary  privations,  and  at 
the  same  time  to  satisfy  the  exceedingly  difficult  so- 
cial demands  which  must  be  met,  if  the  feeling  of 
good  fellowship  between  officers  and  men,  which, 
thank  God,  exists  in  our  army  to  a  high  and  often 
stirring  degree,  is  to  be  established  without  detracting 
from  the  authority  of  the  officers.  The  relations  ex- 
isting, especially  in  war  time,  between  our  officers  and 
men  are  inimitable,  with  few  exceptions  which  only 
prove  the  rule,  for,  on  the  whole,  we  may  say:  No 
German  officer  forsakes  his  men  under  fire;  he  saves 
them  at  the  risk  of  his  life,  and  they  do  the  same ;  no 
German  soldier  forsakes  his  officer — we  have  experi- 
enced this. 

The  internal  condition  of  Germany  at  the  end 
of  1915  means  that  she  will  long  continue  to  be 
the  best  organized  industrial  nnit.  The  world 
has  never  seen  such  mobilization  of  the  energies 
and  genius  of  a  great  state,  and  the  interests  of 
Ireland  are  clearly  linked  with  the  states  and 
civilizations  which  are  passing  England  as 
world  powers ;  they  are  the  United  States  and 
Germany. 


CHAPTER  V 

THE  STATE  OR  THE  INDIVIDUAL 

From  a  London  Times  editorial,  August  3, 1915, 
recounting  bitterly  the  British  war  failures  of 
the  first  year,  the  following  quotation  is  taken : 

This  struggle  has  taught  the  allies  many  lessons,  but 
the  most  vital  of  them  is  that  England  must  win  or 
lose  forever  her  high  place  among  the  nations  of  the 
earth.  The  revelations  made  in  the  papers  issued  by 
the  various  governments,  and  still  more  the  unheard 
of  methods  with  which  Germany  is  conducting  this 
war,  have  burned  into  their  minds  the  knowledge  that 
German  victory  would  mean  the  irretrievable  ruin  of 
England,  and  with  it  the  downfall  of  European  civi- 
lization. 

Between  the  civilization  of  England  and  the  civili- 
zation of  the  German  state  there  exists  a  gulf  that  is 
impassable.  One  represents  democratic  ideals  of 
righteousness  and  human  fellowship,  the  other  annihi- 
lation of  the  individual  before  the  supreme  right  of 
the  state. 

Nothing  can  reconcile  the  two.  One  must  succumb 
to  the  other.  We  are  determined  that  it  shall  not  be 
the  one  upon  which  the  greatness  of  our  race  has  al- 
ways rested  and  upon  which  our  noblest  hopes  depend. 

The  war  is  the  supreme  test  of  European  civi- 
lization in  all  its  branches.  The  broad  and  al- 
ways unclosed  gulf  between  the  English  classes 

96 


The  State  or  the  Individual  97 

and  masses  impairs  her  right  to  call  herself  a 
democratic  nation,  and  history  shows  that  in 
actual  practice  she  is  one  of  the  most  imper- 
vious of  nations  to  democratic  ideals.  Out- 
wardly the  English  forms  seem  to  the  traveler 
less  autocratic  and  more  free  than  German  gov- 
ernment methods  and  customs.  And  the  large 
standing  German  army  at  the  service  of  the 
state,  with  the  narrowness  of  military  life,  op- 
presses the  American  traveler,  and  the  tourist, 
on  a  short  trip,  returns  with  the  notion  that 
England  is  more  free  and  liberal  than  Germany. 
These  are  but  surface  indications.  The  writer 
is  acquainted  with  several  Americans  who  have 
passed  part  of  their  lives  both  in  Germany  and 
in  England,  and  each  one  is  a  stout  advocate  of 
Germany  as  against  England  in  the  war. 

The  Eev.  Dr.  Thomas  Hall,  of  New  York,  a 
noted  Presbyterian  minister,  native  of  County 
Antrim,  Ireland,  after  spending  years  of  his 
life  in  Germany  and  England,  says  the  qualities 
of  German  civilization  are  the  highest,  and  that 
in  actual  practice  the  German  ideals  of  adminis- 
tration are  more  genuinely  democratic  than  the 
English.    They  have  made  the  cities  the  home 


98   What  Could  Germany  Do  For  Ireland? 

of  democracy,  he  states,  and  all  will  die  for  that 
home. 

The  test  of  a  government  is  not  in  its  forms 
or  name,  but  in  the  condition  of  the  people. 
Mexico  boasts  of  a  most  flexible,  democratic 
constitution,  and  her  leaders  who  have  shouted 
liberty  the  loudest  have  proven  the  greatest  ty- 
rants and  blood-shedders. 

Several  of  the  South  American  republics  and 
Central  American  states  under  democratic 
forms  have  oppressed  the  people,  assassinated 
their  rulers  and  beggared  the  land.  Until 
within  the  past  few  years  democratic  England 
would  not  permit  an  Irishman  to  own  land  in 
his  native  country. 

In  France  we  find  the  Socialist  leaders  rising 
to  eminence  and  the  control  of  the  government 
on  the  backs  of  the  masses,  entering  the  Cabinet, 
only  to  be  charged  by  their  followers  with  be- 
traying democratic  ideals  and  selling  out  to  the 
capitalist  class. 

In  the  same  year  that  the  British  "  democ- 
racy' '  was  proclaiming  the  deliverance  of  small 
nations  from  Napoleon  (1814)  the  same  govern- 
ment issued  an  order  "to  destroy  and  lay  waste 


The  State  or  the  Individual  99 

all  towns  and  districts  of  the  United  States 
found  accessive  to  the  attack  of  the  British  ar- 
maments." 

The  real  democrats  in  the  British  Cabinet, 
John  Morley,  John  Burns,  Trevelyan,  Haldane, 
were  thrust  aside  by  the  crushing  power  of  the 
English  commercial  classes,  jealous  of  German 
success  in  trade.  The  voice  of  pure  democracy 
burst  forth  from  the  hearts  of  J.  Ramsay 
McDonald,  M.  P.,  the  late  Keir  Hardie,  M.  P., 
George  Bernard  Shaw,  Frank  Harris  and  Ar- 
thur Ponsonby,  protesting  against  the  war  on 
Germany  as  unjust  and  unnecessary. 

England  as  a  "pure  democracy"  destroyed 
the  only  two  remaining  democratic  states  in 
Africa  or  Asia,  the  Boer  Republic  and  the 
Orange  Free  State.  Germany  has  never  had  a 
quarrel  with  a  democratic  power  since  the  em- 
pire was  formed. 

The  complex  changes  of  civilization  have 
tended  to  increase  the  duties  and  power  of  the 
state  and  correspondingly  lessen  the  power  and 
limits  of  the  individual.  If  the  German  state, 
despite  unpleasant  forms,  brings  its  population 
to  more  contentment  and  happiness  than  a  de- 


100    What  Could  Germany  Do  For  Ireland? 

mocracy  moulded  in  Britain,  where  so  many  in- 
dividuals claim  the  right  to  starve  and  live 
miserably,  then  some  of  us  may  well  question 
the  alleged  superiority  of  the  system  of  indi- 
vidualism which  England  says  she  is  fighting  to 
preserve. 

Belgium  is  not  a  democracy  but  a  kingdom,  in 
social  legislation  one  of  the  most  reactionary 
countries,  and  in  her  conquest  of  the  Congo 
ruthless,  pitiless  in  her  greed  for  rubber,  and 
proven  to  have  committed  most  horrible  atroc- 
ities on  the  natives.  Students  of  history  are 
fully  aware  that  England  has  never  gone  to  war 
to  save  a  small  nation.  In  the  light  of  her  black 
record  in  destroying  so  many  small  nations,  and 
her  several  unsuccessful  attempts  to  destroy 
the  American  democracy,  one  is  amazed  to  find 
many  Americans  sympathizing  with  England 
on  the  queer  theory  that  she  is  the  champion  of 
small  nations  and  the  last  valiant  defender  of 
democracy  abroad. 

Germany,  hemmed  in  on  all  sides  by  ambitious 
nations,  desiring  to  expand,  found  it  necessary 
to  centralize  and  apparently  sacrifice  the  am- 
bitious projects  of  the  individual  to  the  good  of 


The  State  or  the  Individual  101 

the  state.  This  plan  has  worked  out  well,  has 
bulwarked  and  barricaded  the  national  ideal 
with  the  feeling  of  her  entire  population,  so 
that  her  national  unity  and  common  purpose, 
isolated  though  it  may  have  made  her  in  some 
"neutral"  quarters,  has  proved  her  salvation 
in  the  war.  Anxious  to  court  public  opinion  in 
America,  believing  that  she  is  misunderstood 
and  slandered  by  England,  who  holds  the  ear 
of  the  world,  no  matter  how  important  our  good 
will  might  be,  she  never  forgets,  first  and  last, 
that  the  solidarity  of  opinion  of  her  own  people 
is  vital  and  paramount,  and  that  is  the  basis  of 
all  of  her  moves  in  war  and  economics. 

Macauley  says  that  "of  all  aristocracies  the 
English  is  the  most  democratic  and  of  all  de- 
mocracies the  English  is  the  most  aristocratic. ' ' 

The  present  government  of  England  in  the 
House  of  Commons  is  the  shopkeepers,  through 
the  shopkeeper's  barristers,  and  in  the  House 
of  Lords  the  scions  of  the  houses  of  landed  aris- 
tocracy, between  which  houses  there  is  an  im- 
passable class  barrier,  and  yet  the  merchant, 
class  conscious  commoner,  is  often  found  aping 
the  nobility,  secretly  admiring  or  envying  the 


102    What  Could  Germany  Do  For  Ireland? 

lords,  and  hoping  against  hope  to  receive  a 
title  from  the  king. 

When  you  are  on  the  high  seas  or  in  the 
tropics  with  a  mixed  company  of  Germans  and 
English,  almost  invariably  you  find  the  former 
more  liberal  and  democratic  than  the  English, 
whose  conceit  and  arrogance  are  insufferable.  I 
remember  meeting  one  in  the  West  Indies  who 
was  hurrying  home  to  vote  for  Member  of  Par- 
liament, and  he  could  vote  four  times,  as  he  held 
property  in  four  places.  In  Germany  a  man 
votes  once  only  for  the  Reichstag,  as  it  should 
be.  There  is  no  restricted  property  suffrage, 
which  somewhat  reduces  the  claimant  's  right  to 
be  considered  a  pure  democracy. 

The  scientist,  Alfred  Eussel  Wallace,  says 
the  history  of  no  other  country  affords  a  paral- 
lel for  England's  "hypocritical  lack  of  national 
morality,' '  as  borne  out  by  her  history.  Indi- 
vidualism, carried  to  the  extreme,  has  not  made 
out  a  good  case  for  democracy  when  twenty  per 
cent,  of  all  men  in  England  are  consigned  to  a 
pauper's  grave,  and  where  millions  of  people 
are  part  of  families  which  live  in  a  single  room. 

The  sad  cries  of  Belgium  have  appealed  to 


The  State  or  the  Individual  103 

the  individualist's  spirit  of  the  English  people, 
no  doubt,  and  the  commercial  class  ministry  of 
Asquith  and  Grey  has  succeeded  in  convincing 
the  wageworker  that  he  is  the  defender  of  Bel- 
gium and  all  small  nations,  contrary  to  history ; 
and  as  the  London  Leader  said  at  the  opening 
of  the  war: 

Britain  is  now  supposed  to  be  the  champion  of 
small  peoples,  yet  we  have  the  example  of  Persia  be- 
fore our  eyes  today.  Persia,  whose  independence  was 
guaranteed  by  Britain  and  who  has  been  swallowed 
by  Kussia!  The  neutrality  and  independence  of 
Korea  was  guaranteed  by  Britain,  France  and  Rus- 
sia, but  Korea  was  seized  by  Japan  and  her  queen 
murdered  by  Japanese  agents.  Morocco  was  divided 
between  France  and  Spain,  with  the  connivance  of 
Britain,  for  England,  like  every  other  nation,  breaks 
treaties  when  convenient  to  herself. 

The  writer  does  not  contend  that  the  English 
democracy  lacks  virility  in  parts,  or  is  wanting 
in  courage  or  patriotism,  or  has  failed  to  ac- 
complish notable  reforms  for  the  good  of  the 
people,  but  he  does  claim,  and  his  opinion  is 
based  on  close  observation  of  the  two  races  for 
the  past  two  decades,  and  a  study  of  facts,  re- 
sults and  reports,  aided  by  the  opportunity  to 
travel  and  observe,  that  England  is  breaking 


104    What  Could  Germany  Do  For  Ireland? 

down  under  individualism  and  unrestrained 
competition,  whereas  Germany  is  more  con- 
stantly prosperous;  works  along  co-operative 
lines,  steadily  advancing;  that  her  centralized 
system  is  better  for  her  people  in  the  mass  and 
is  turning  out  stronger  men  and  women,  better 
fed,  trained  and  disciplined  children;  and  that 
she  is  superior  to  England  in  national  unity 
and  execution. 

The  writer  would  not  enlarge  on  the  national 
vices,  slackness,  lack  of  patriotism  and  selfish- 
ness, with  which  traits  of  national  character 
England  is  twitted  by  her  own  distraught 
leaders  and  newspapers.  Sufficient  to  say  that 
the  efficiency  of  the  German  state  system,  so 
despised  by  the  individualists,  has  not  broken 
down  anywhere.  The  people  suffer  and  die  and 
undergo  terrible  sacrifices,  but  the  national 
spirit,  resource,  character,  invention  and  unity 
are  as  fine  and  as  sure  as  at  the  outbreak  of  the 
war.  There  are  no  German  weaknesses  to  be 
exposed.  The  training  and  discipline  of  forty 
years  have  accomplished  their  work. 

Under  the  "pure  democracy"  and  individual 
system  of  England,  the  war  has  exposed  to  the 


The  State  or  the  Individual  105 

world  the  instability  of  relations  between  the 
employer  and  wage  workers.  The  manufacturer 
wanted  to  make  "big  money' '  out  of  the  war 
and  the  toiler  wanted  an  eight-hour  day  and 
double  wages.  Many  in  both  classes  wanted 
someone  else  to  do  the  fighting,  and  the  result 
has  been  a  poor  army  made  up  of  volunteers, 
while  the  able-bodied  and  skilled  men  in  great 
part  have  remained  at  home  to  profit,  if  pos- 
sible, by  the  large  profits  and  unusual  wages 
paid  to  workers.  In  Germany,  whose  every 
man,  fit,  mentally  and  physically,  must  serve 
in  the  army,  none  can  remain  behind  save  those 
who  are  absolutely  necessary  for  the  welfare 
of  the  people  at  home.  The  average  German 
regards  great  war  profits  from  his  country  as 
a  crime  of  sacrilege,  and  the  largest  manufac- 
turers have  given  up  most  of  their  profits, 
either  to  the  government  on  the  war  loans  or  to 
the  various  relief  funds.  There  has  been  no 
sudden  jump  in  war  munition  fortunes  or  in  the 
wages  of  labor,  or  any  army  contract  scandals, 
as  in  England,  where  manufacturers  have  been 
sentenced  to  imprisonment  for  actually  selling 
war  supplies  to  the  Teutons.    In  Germany,  the 


106    What  Could  Germany  Do  For  Ireland? 

available  young,  unmarried  men  are  at  the 
front,  in  sharp  contrast  to  the  single  men  of 
England,  who,  in  great  part,  have  permitted  the 
married  men  to  lose  their  lives  in  the  trenches 
while  the  wives  and  children  will  be  left  to 
struggle  for  existence  after  the  war.  In  a  coun- 
try where  individualism  and  sharp  competition 
survive  as  a  system  and  produce  a  multitude 
of  unfit,  the  toll  and  reckoning  is  paid  when  a 
great  war  demands  the  life-blood  of  the  people. 
The  Russian  peasant,  without  skill  or  educa- 
tion, victim  of  centuries  of  bad  government, 
falls  like  chaff  before  the  trained  and  educated 
Teutons.  While  the  English  factory  worker 
or  farmhand  recruit,  worn  out  by  his  system 
of  production  and  economics,  swells  the  cas- 
ualty lists  out  of  proportion  to  the  size  of  the 
army.  This  lamentable  exhibit  is  not  due  to 
lack  of  courage  or  intrepidity.  They  are  brave, 
but  they  are  not  equal  to  their  more  hardy  and 
scientific  adversaries,  because  their  country  has 
sacrificed  the  minds  and  bodies  of  the  men  to 
individual  money-making.  And  the  mothers 
and  women  and  children  were  not  protected  in 
the  fierce  struggle  to  control  the  world's  mar- 


The  State  or  the  Individual  107 

kets.  London  is  the  only  place  I  have  seen  in 
Europe  or  America  where  labor  is  such  a  plen- 
tiful commodity  that  it  can  be  hired  by  the  one 
or  three  hours.  In  this  period  of  war  all  labor 
is  employed,  and  small  wonder  is  it  that  the 
submerged,  finding  at  last  a  steady  job  at 
princely  wages,  reject  the  appeals  of  the  re- 
cruiting sergeant.  Great  sacrifices  have  been 
made  by  a  limited  number  of  people  in  England 
during  the  war,  but  there  has  been  no  national 
sacrifice  as  in  France  or  Germany.  They  must 
not  forego  their  pleasures  and  amusements  or 
luxuries,  even  though  they  are  told  over  and 
over  again  by  press,  pulpit  and  government  that 
the  very  existence  of  the  empire  is  in  grave 
peril.  At  the  end  of  the  first  year  of  the  war 
the  annual  expenditure  of  the  island  of  England 
alone  for  jewelry  was  $125,000,000,  for 
alcoholic  liquors  $900,000,000,  gambling  $125,- 
000,000,  tobacco  $150,000,000,  golf  $25,000- 
000.  A  race  horse  sold  for  $200,000  and 
$20,000  was  paid  for  two  antique  snuff 
boxes. 

In  Germany  the  spirit  of  thrift  is  universal 
and  the  man  or  woman  guilty  of  extravagance, 


108    What  Could  Germany  Do  For  Ireland? 

of  failing  to  share  or  to  give,  is  shunned  and 
ostracized  in  all  cities  and  villages. 

In  the  United  States  we  no  longer  hear  the 
cry  that  this  is  the  Kaiser's  war.  Those  voices 
have  been  stilled  in  the  presence  of  German 
unity.  Rome,  in  the  greatest  days  of  the  em- 
pire, never  showed  the  universal  spirit  and  soli- 
darity of  the  German  nation  after  sixteen 
months  of  the  deadliest  war  the  world  has 
known.  The  proletariat  of  France  never  rallied 
to  the  colors  of  Napoleon  with  the  unanimity 
shown  by  the  Socialists  of  Germany  or  the 
brave  Bavarian  Catholic  troops,  united  in  de- 
fense of  the  Fatherland.  A  large  section  of  the 
American  nation,  including  most  of  her  wealthy 
men,  opposed  the  illustrious  Washington  and 
allowed  his  troops  to  starve  and  freeze.  Would 
that  Ireland,  in  her  long  and  bloody  history, 
could  have  given  proof  of  such  national  unity ! 
From  the  Baltic  Sea  to  the  River  Elbe,  from  the 
banks  of  the  Rhine  to  the  banks  of  the  Vistula, 
in  every  home,  from  the  head  of  the  house  and 
mother  down,  lies  the  spirit  of  self-sacrifice,  and 
the  motto  is,  "one  for  all — all  for  one." 

Dr.     Karl     Helfferich,     Secretary     of    the 


The  State  or  the  Individual  109 

Imperial  Treasury,  has  prepared  a  signed 
statement  on  German  economics  and  finan- 
cial affairs,  as  he  views  them  at  the  end 
of  the  first  year  of  the  war.  His  statement  fol- 
lows : 

The  economic  and  financial  features  of  the  first 
year  of  the  war  are,  in  my  opinion,  the  following : 

First. — The  British  starvation  war  has  failed.  Once 
and  for  all  it  has  been  proved  that  our  domestic  pro- 
duction of  foodstuffs,  bread  card  system  and  maxi- 
mum prices  assure  even  to  the  poorest  the  necessary 
supply  of  food,  and  that  at  prices  lower  than  prevail- 
ing in  Great  Britain. 

Second. — Nor  can  we  starve  in  raw  materials.  The 
difficulties  cast  in  the  way  of  the  importation  of  raw 
materials,  in  violation  of  international  law,  are  un- 
pleasant for  us,  but  are  not  fatal.  We  have  in  our 
own  country  an  ample  supply  of  the  most  important 
raw  materials — coal  and  iron — and  of  others  we  have 
on  hand,  manufactured  or  unmanufactured,  great  sup- 
plies, which,  with  the  economical  employment  thereof 
insured  by  our  methods  of  organization,  are  virtually 
inexhaustible. 

Third. — The  specter  of  unemployment  has  been 
banished.  There  is  more  work  than  workers.  The 
war  has  proved  itself  to  be  a  greater  employer  of 
labor  than  our  export  trade  was. 

Fourth. — So  far  as  finances  are  concerned,  Germany 
will  carry  the  war  through  for  an  unlimited  time. 
"We  produce  in  our  own  country  virtually  everything 
needed  for  war.  Thus  expenditures  for  war  purposes 
resolve  themselves  into  savings;  these,  again,  are  at 
the  empire's  disposition  as  payments  on  the  war 
loans;  and  deposits  are  flowing  into  the  banks  and 
savings  institutions  more  plentifully  than  in  times  of 


110    What  Could  Germany  Do  For  Ireland? 

peace.  The  total  of  deposits  today,  after  over  $3,000,- 
000,000  have  been  paid  on  war  loans,  is  higher  than 
at  the  outbreak  of  the  war.  The  gold  reserve  of  the 
Reichsbank  has  almost  doubled  since  the  war  began. 
Notes  and  deposits  in  the  Reichsbank  covered  by  gold 
are  33.5  per  cent.,  as  compared  with  26.7  per  cent,  in 
the  Bank  of  France  and  21.7  in  the  Bank  of  England. 
Fifth. — The  confidence  of  the  German  people  in  our 
financial  strength  is  as  unbounded  as  their  confidence 
in  our  military  superiority.  After  twelve  months  of 
war,  Imperial  3's  are  quoted  at  70,  which  is  8  points 
below  the  quotation  in  March,  1914;  the  minimum 
price  of  British  Consols,  65,  is  11  per  cent,  below  the 
quotation  in  March,  1914 ;  3  per  cent.  French  Rentes, 
at  69,  are  19  per  cent,  below  March,  1914.  "Work, 
skill,  discipline,  organization,  economy,  and  last  but 
not  least,  the  categorical  imperative  of  patriotism  have 
upheld  Germany  in  the  first  year  against  enemies,  and 
will  help  us  further  to  win  the  war. 

Thus  we  see  that  militarism  is  but  one  of  the 
arms  which  account  for  German  victories.  Only 
in  the  last  few  years  has  England  taken  steps 
to  save  the  poor,  and  all  students  of  social  legis- 
lation know  that  Germany  is  far  ahead  of 
England  in  all  works  to  ameliorate  the  working, 
living  and  housing  conditions  of  the  people. 
Friends  of  Ireland  must  seriously  consider  at 
this  period  the  leadership  of  Germany  in  the 
qualities  of  organization,  co-operation,,  getting 
things  well  done^  and  apply  to  Ireland,  with 
German  aid,  a  system  of  organizing  her  re- 


The  State  or  the  Individual  111 

sources  and  developing  her  industries,  thus 
breaking  away  from  the  chains  that  will  bind 
her  to  an  exhausted  England,  perhaps  an  eco- 
nomic corpse  after  the  war.  Ireland  is  too  poor 
to  pay  her  allotted  share  of  the  huge  war  debt 
and  her  misery  will  increase. 

While  Germany  rolled  up  wealth  along  with 
England  in  times  of  peace,  poverty  and  misery 
increased  among  the  English  and  lessened 
among  the  Germans.  The  writer  has  seen  men 
and  women  in  the  streets  of  England  digging  in 
the  garbage  cans  for  food.  English  snobbery 
and  hypocrisy  will  not  forgive  the  Germans  for 
greater  success  in  solving  sociological  prob- 
lems. Charity,  not  justice,  for  the  poor  is  the 
only  remedy  applied  to  them  in  England. 
Rarely  do  you  find  a  rich  man  in  that  country 
who  does  not  condemn  the  poor  for  their  mis- 
fortunes. That  a  man  should  not  be  able  to 
provide  more  than  one  room  for  his  family  sets 
him  down  as  a  disgusting  failure.  They  were 
almost  on  the  verge  of  social  revolution  when 
the  war  broke  out,  and  many  competent  ob- 
servers believe  that  Asquith  went  into  the  war 
to  save  the  destruction  of  the  home  government. 


112    What  Could  Germany  Do  For  Ireland? 

They  blame  the  Germans  for  preparedness  in 
the  art  of  war,  bnt  why  should  they  blame  them 
for  their  superior  science?  The  Germans  have 
done  wonders  in  electricity,  chemistry,  surgery, 
water-power  and  food  products,  while  the  Eng- 
lish have  been  standing  still.  They  are  the  solid 
foundation  on  which  Germany  stands  not  to  lose 
this  war.  That  is  the  spirit  which  possesses 
every  German  household  from  the  master  down 
to  the  family  cat.  Success  and  superiority  in 
nations  as  well  as  individuals  always  excite 
hatred  and  jealousy. 

Mr.  H.  G.  Wells,  the  eminent  English  critic, 
said  before  the  war : 

We  in  Great  Britain  are  now  intensely  jealous  of 
Germany.  We  are  intensely  jealous  of  Germany,  not 
only  because  the  Germans  outnumber  us  and  have  a 
much  larger  and  more  diversified  country  than  ours, 
which  lies  in  the  very  heart  and  body  of  Europe,  but 
because  in  the  last  hundred  years,  while  we  have  fed 
on  platitudes  and  vanity,  they  have  had  the  energy 
and  humility  to  develop  a  splendid  system  of  na- 
tional education,  to  toil  at  science  and  art  and  litera- 
ture, to  develop  social  organization,  to  master  and 
better  our  methods  of  business  and  industry,  and  to 
clamber  above  us  in  the  scale  of  civilization.  This  has 
humiliated  and  irritated  rather  than  chastened  us. 

The  absence  of  factories  and  commerce  from 
the  greater  part  of  Ireland  accounts  for  the 


The  State  or  the  Individual  113 

failure  of  her  immigrants,  as  a  class,  to  gain 
much  of  a  footing  in  the  business  world.  The 
young  men  who  are  forced  to  leave  the  island 
and  make  their  way  in  strange  lands,  with  few 
exceptions,  lack  commercial  training.  How 
often  do  we  hear  people  say  that  they  rarely 
find  a  Celtic  name  over  the  shops  and  factories 
of  American  cities !  A  race  of  business  men  is 
not  made  in  a  single  generation.  The  Irish  im- 
migrants turn-  to  the  police  force,  politics  and 
those  pursuits  we  see  them  in  the  oftenest  be- 
cause they  and  their  fathers  were  never  fur- 
nished with  the  opportunity  in  Ireland  to  learn 
modern  business.  Commerce  in  a  large  way  is 
a  dead  art  in  all  but  one  county  (Antrim)  and 
the  immigrant  class  cannot  be  expected  to  cope 
with  conditions  wholly  unfamiliar  to  them  and 
their  day  and  generation.  They  need  the  ex- 
perienced and  efficient  brains  of  the  trained 
Germans  to  help  them  get  a  start  in  the  race. 
They  are  adaptable  and  learn  easily,  but  they 
are  without  the  wealth,  tools  and  scientific 
knowledge  necessary  to  develop  the  long-ne- 
glected resources  of  the  country.  The  individ- 
ual needs  the  protection  of  the  state,  and  in  the 


114    What  Could  Germany  Do  For  Ireland? 

German  co-operative  system,  as  against  the 
English  rule  of  the  survival  of  the  fittest,  lies 
the  only  hope  of  the  Celtic  race  ever  making 
practical  use  of  their  natural  resources. 

The  national  health  insurance  laws  have  bene- 
fited the  city  workers  of  Ireland,  but  as  most 
of  the  people  depend  on  agriculture,  the  latter 
class  have  shared  little  in  its  benefits.  The 
laws  are  only  three  years  old,  copied  from  Ger- 
many, whose  people  have  been  protected  by  in- 
surance laws  for  thirty  years.  In  Germany  the 
government  insures  all  of  its  workmen  against 
the  certainty  of  death,  which  is  not  allowed  in 
Ireland. 


CHAPTER  VI 

THE  GATEWAY  OF  EUEOPE 
IRELAND   IS   THE    GATEWAY   OF   EUROPE 

The  late  Admiral  Mahan  of  the  United  States 
Navy  is  conceded  to  have  been  one  of  the  fore- 
most writers  of  his  time  on  naval  warfare.  He 
is  the  authority  for  the  statement  that ' i  Ireland, 
by  geographical  position,  lies  across  and  con- 
trols the  communications  of  Great  Britain  with 
all  the  Eastern  World,  save  only  that  consider- 
able, but  far  from  preponderant,  portion  which 
borders  the  North  Sea  and  the  Baltic. ' '  In  his 
opinion,  were  Ireland  independent  and  hostile 
to  England,  her  position  would  manacle  Eng- 
land. From  that  standpoint  he  concluded  that 
England  could  not  afford  to  concede  Home  Rule 
to  Ireland  without  undermining  her  own  stra- 
tegical position. 

Glancing  at  the  map  of  Europe,  it  is  easy  to 
see  that  Ireland  is  the  natural  connecting  link 
between  the  Eastern  and  Western  Worlds.  To 
the  east  lies  the  continent  of  Europe,  of  which 

"5 


116    What  Could  Germany  Do  For  Ireland? 

it  is  the  most  westerly  part,  whilst  to  the  west 
of  Ireland,  directly  facing  it,  lies  North  Amer- 
ica, comprising  the  United  States  and  Canada. 
The  promontories  of  Ireland  on  its  north,  west 
and  sonth  coastlines  are  visible  at  an  immense 
distance  ont  at  sea,  and  its  commodious  harbors 
on  the  south  and  west  stretch  out  wide  into  the 
Atlantic,  inviting  a  union  between  the  Eastern 
and  Western  Hemispheres. 

Ireland  enjoys  a  commanding  position  on  the 
globe — a  fact  so  early  and  long  recognized  by 
England  that  it  has  influenced  the  policy  of  suc- 
cessive British  administrations  during  the  past 
seven  hundred  years  in  respect  to  Ireland.  The 
possession  of  Ireland  by  England  has  placed  the 
dominion  of  all  the  seas  in  Britain's  hands,  and 
has  enabled  her  to  build  up  the  vast  mercantile 
marine  that  now  carries  the  goods  of  the  world, 
to  the  enrichment  of  the  British  Empire.  The 
importance  of  Ireland's  position  was  known  to 
the  Danes,  who  attempted,  but  failed,  to  subju- 
gate Ireland  to  the  rule  of  the  Vikings  more 
than  eleven  hundred  years  ago.  In  the  early 
years  of  the  Christian  era,  when  the  Roman 
Empire    dominated    the    then    known    world, 


The  Gateway  of  Europe  117 

Agricola  laid  plans  for  the  conquest  of  Ireland. 
The  Romans  conquered  Britain,  yet  hesitated  to 
attempt  the  enslavement  of  the  then  powerful 
Celtic  nation,  so  that  Ireland  never  passed  un- 
der the  dominion  of  the  Caesars. 

Ireland  is  not  physically  connected  with  Eng- 
land or  with  Scotland.  It  is  an  island — the  sec- 
ond largest  and  the  most  westerly  in  Europe ; 
its  boundaries  are  clearly  denned  and  marked 
out  by  nature.  Ireland's  frontiers  are  far  more 
definite  than  the  boundaries  of  the  large  ma- 
jority of  the  remaining  European  countries. 
The  mighty  Atlantic  laves  the  northerly,  west- 
erly and  southerly  shores  of  Ireland,  whilst  on 
the  east  Ireland  is  divided  from  England,  Scot- 
land and  Wales  by  the  North  Channel,  the  Irish 
Sea  and  St.  George's  Channel.  Within  100 
miles  of  the  west  coast  of  Ireland,  a  depth  of 
1,000  fathoms  is  obtainable  in  the  Atlantic,  and 
within  200  miles  of  the  Kerry  coast,  the  south- 
west corner  of  Ireland,  the  abyssal  depth  of 
over  16,000  feet  is  recorded. 

The  fusion  of  England,  Scotland  and  Wales 
into  the  Commonwealth  of  Great  Britain  ap- 
pears perfectly  natural,  judged  by  the  physical 


118    What  Could  Germany  Do  For  Ireland? 

connection  that  unites  all  three  countries,  but 
no  such  connection  joins  Ireland  to  any  or  all 
of  these  countries. 

The  total  area  of  Ireland  (32,500  square 
miles)  is  20,371,125  statute  acres,  of  which  120,- 
329  acres  are  under  water.  In  addition,  some 
481,293  acres  are  under  the  large  rivers,  lakes 
and  tideways  of  Ireland.  The  coastline  is 
mountainous,  indented  with  a  multitude  of  natu- 
ral harbors,  bays,  creeks,  etc.  The  interior  of 
Ireland  is,  with  few  exceptions,  practically  a 
level  plain  of  meadow  and  heathland.  The  soil 
of  Ireland  is  fertile  in  the  extreme — a  fact  well 
recognized  by  all  authorities.  Despite  its  north- 
erly situation,  the  climate  of  Ireland  is  mild  and 
agreeable,  caused  in  part  by  reason  of  the  fact 
that  its  southerly  and  westerly  shores  are  laved 
by  the  warm  waters  of  the  Gulf  Stream.  Ire- 
land's chief  harbors  on  the  south,  west  and 
north  are  Waterf  ord,  Dungarvan  Bay,  Youghal, 
Cork,  Bantry  Bay,  Smerwick,  Dingle  Bay,  Va- 
lentia,  the  Mouth  of  the  Shannon  (the  largest 
river  in  the  United  Kingdom),  Galway  Bay, 
Clifden,  Clew,  Blacksod  and  Sligo  Bays,  Lough 
Swilly  and  Lough  Foyle.    All  of  those  are  deep, 


The  Gateway  of  Europe  119 

natural  harbors  and  afford  safe  anchorage  for 
shipping.  Some  of  them,  particularly  Cork 
Harbor,  Bantry  Bay,  Galway  Bay,  Blacksod 
Bay  and  Lough  Swilly,  are  so  wide  and  deep 
and  so  easy  of  access  that  a  mighty  fleet  can  ride 
with  safety  on  their  expansive  land-locked 
waters. 

The  European-Asiatic  continent  has  at  its  ex- 
tremities countries  whose  strategical  impor- 
tance is  recognized  by  all  authorities  on  naval 
and  military  matters.  These  are  Korea  on  the 
east  and  Ireland  on  the  west.  It  is  considered 
vital  to  the  future  growth  and  development  as 
a  first-class  world  power  of  the  Japanese  Em- 
pire that  Korea  should  remain  under  the  domi- 
nation of  the  Mikado.  Ireland  is  even  of  more 
vital  importance  strategically  to  England  than 
Korea  is  to  Japan.  The  occupation  of  Ireland 
by  a  world  power,  such  as  Germany,  and  its  con- 
version into  a  naval  and  military  base,  would 
bring  about  speedily  the  downfall  for  all  time  of 
England  from  the  rank  and  status  of  a  first- 
class  world  power.  That  such  would  be  the  con- 
sequence to  England  of  Ireland's  passing  into 
the  hands  of  some  other  great  power  cannot  be 


120    What  Could  Germany  Bo  For  Ireland? 

disputed.  England  would  be  flanked  on  her 
western  side,  but  not  merely  that  alone.  Did 
Germany  possess  Ireland  today,  England  would 
be  enclosed  and  her  situation  would  be  hopeless 
in  the  extreme. 

The  present  war  has  demonstrated,  in  a  man- 
ner never  before  so  clearly  recognized,  the  im- 
portance of  Ireland's  strategical  situation  in 
the  event  of  an  outbreak  of  European  hostil- 
ities. By  reason  of  the  disposition  of  her  nu- 
merically superior  fleet,  England  (in  the  Eng- 
lish Channel  and  the  North  Sea)  has  been  able 
to  arrest  all  sea-borne  traffic  intended  for  Ger- 
many. On  the  other  hand,  Germany  has  been 
able  to  inflict  serious  damage  on  English  ship- 
ping by  her  submarine  warfare  waged  from  off 
the  coast  of  Ireland.  The  destroyed  tonnage  is 
conceded  to  be  an  amount  of  640,000  tons  dis- 
placement, which,  at  an  average  present  value 
of  $150  per  ton,  means  a  loss  of  nearly  a  billion 
dollars  in  vessel  values,  to  say  nothing  of  the 
loss  of  the  cargoes.  The  largest  number  of 
English  vessels  destroyed  in  the  present  war 
were  torpedoed  and  sunk  by  German  under- 


The  Gateway  of  Europe  121 

water  craft  operating  off  the  south,  west  and 
north  coasts  of  Ireland. 

What  are  the  geographical  conditions  that 
mark  out  Ireland's  situation  on  the  globe  as  of 
such  high  strategical  importance?  Let  us  ex- 
amine this  question  from  the  English  point  of 
view  first.  The  history  of  England  in  its  rela- 
tion to  Ireland  clearly  teaches  that  English  pol- 
icy in  regard  to  Ireland  has  always  been  di- 
rected towards  keeping  Ireland  under  British 
dominion,  and  at  the  same  time  to  bring  about 
an  economic  situation  in  Ireland  that  would 
keep  Ireland  weak  and  dependent  upon  England 
in  all  matters  affecting  her  existence.  In  Henry 
VIII. 's  view,  "Ireland  as  a  subject  or  indepen- 
dent ally  of  a  Continental  power  would  menace 
the  existence  of  England.' '  English  statesmen 
of  all  generations  were  and  are  still  largely  ob- 
sessed with  the  idea  that  Ireland  can  never  be 
a  neutral  country,  and  that  the  passing  of  Ire- 
land out  of  the  control  of  England  and  into  the 
hands  of  another  European  power  would  mean 
that  in  the  event  of  war  in  Europe  in  which 
England  happened  to  be  engaged,  the  loss  of 
Ireland  would  weigh  with  double  effect  against 


122    What  Could  Germany  Do  For  Ireland? 

England.  The  ruling  classes  in  England  have 
always  and  do  still  believe  that  Ireland,  owing 
to  her  situation  and  physical  formation,  will 
ever  be  subject  to  some  one  power  or  another, 
and  that  she  must  always  remain  in  vassalage  to 
that  power  who  succeeds  in  wresting  the  su- 
premacy of  the  seas  from  England.  To  accede 
to  Ireland's  demand  for  autonomous  govern- 
ment would  mean,  in  their  opinion,  that  England 
would  of  necessity  have  to  re-conquer  Ireland 
in  the  event  of  European  hostilities. 

It  is  only  necessary  to  make  a  cursory  survey 
of  an  outline  map  of  Ireland  to  realize  that  her 
coastline  is  among  the  least  defensible  in 
Europe,  and  that  it  has  been  so  shaped  by  the 
forces  of  nature,  operating  through  countless 
ages,  as  to  be  most  exposed  and  vulnerable  to 
invasion,  particularly  along  her  south,  west  and 
north  shores.  This  weakness  of  the  country — 
her  insular  position — invites  attack  from  any 
and  every  nation  aspiring  to  sea  power.  In 
addition,  Ireland  possesses  some  of  the  best  and 
safest  naval  harbors  in  the  world,  where  abun- 
dant refuge  may  be  obtained  at  all  seasons — a 
fact  not  unknown  to  the  German  Admiralty  as 


The  Gateway  of  Europe  123 

well  as  to  England.  These  harbors  offer  an  al- 
most irresistible  temptation,  an  invaluable 
prize  to  the  power  that  desires  to  possess  and 
retain  mastery  of  the  high  seas.  Furthermore, 
on  her  eastern  shore  Ireland  is  not  distant  from 
England  at  any  one  point  more  than  60  miles, 
whilst  she  is,  at  one  point,  only  13  miles  distant 
from  Scotland.  The  internal  communications 
in  Ireland,  her  roads,  railways,  telegraphs,  etc., 
are  such  that  in  the  hands  of  an  invading  force 
they  could  be  rendered  of  prime  importance  for 
transport  and  other  civil  and  military  require- 
ments. Again,  none  are  so  well  aware  as  the 
British  authorities  that  Ireland  lies  right  across 
England's  doorstep  and  that  Ireland  flanks  both 
routes  to  the  Atlantic.  It  is  the  knowledge  of 
these  facts,  and  also  of  the  potential  resources 
of  the  country,  that  has  influenced  and  guided 
England  in  her  dealings  with  Ireland  all 
through  the  last  700  years.  Such  knowledge 
has  also  been  possessed  by  the  world's  greatest 
military  genius,  Napoleon,  whose  lasting  regret 
was  that  he  had  not  invaded  Ireland  and  left 
Egypt  and  India  out  of  his  calculations  at  the 
start  of  his  marvelous  career.    Napoleon's  con- 


124    What  Could  Germany  Do  For  Ireland? 

cept  of  Ireland's  part  in  world  affairs  was  dif- 
ferent from  that  of  the  English.  He  has  left  it 
on  record  that  it  would  not  be  to  the  interest  of 
France  to  make  Ireland  a  subject  state.  He 
stated  that  if  called  upon  "to  choose  between 
Ireland  independent  and  Ireland  dependent 
upon  an  oligarchy  in  England, ' '  there  could  be 
no  hesitation  in  his  choice.  His  genius  for  mili- 
tary matters  enabled  him  to  see  clearly  that 
"the  windward  position  of  Ireland  and  its 
ports,  like  the  chosen  spot  for  the  frontier 
ports,  or  a  frontier  fortress,  points  her  out  to 
be  the  barrier  for  the  peace  of  Europe.' ' 
"But,"  he  added,  "to  render  Ireland  impreg- 
nable to  the  ambition  of  an  English  oligarchy 
she  must  be  strengthened  internally  and  to  her 
utmost  capacity.  How  can  she  be  so  strength- 
ened? Never  by  being  subject  to  the  provincial 
government  of  any  nation."  To  demonstrate 
fully  France's  belief  in  the  strategical  impor- 
tance of  Ireland  it  must  be  remembered  that  on 
three  different  occasions  she  sent  naval  and 
military  expeditions  to  Ireland  to  wrest  that 
country  from  the  yoke  of  England.  When  en- 
trusting to  General  Hoche,  in  1796,  command  of 


The  Gateway  of  Europe  125 

the  forces  appointed  to  make  a  landing  in  Ire- 
land, the  French  Directory  of  that  day  stated 
that  the  practical  result  to  be  gained  from  the 
successful  issue  of  the  enterprise  was  "to  de- 
tach Ireland  from  England;  that  is,  to  reduce 
the  latter  to  the  position  of  being  no  longer 
more  than  a  second-rate  power,  is  to  deprive  her 
of  a  great  part  of  her  superiority  on  all  the 
seas."  Spain,  too,  in  the  days  of  her  greatness, 
recognized  to  the  full  the  source  of  strength 
and  protection  which  Ireland's  situation  is  to 
England,  and  despatched  naval  and  military  aid 
to  the  unconquered  Irish  who  battled  in  Ireland 
for  possession  of  their  own  land. 

The  present  war  has  also  disclosed  the  im- 
portance of  controlling  the  North  Sea.  The 
food  and  military  requirements  of  the  Channel 
powers  can  be  arrested  effectually  by  the  power 
that  masters  the  approaches  to  the  North  Sea. 
England,  by  reason  of  her  location  and  also  by 
reason  of  her  superior  naval  strength,  has  suc- 
ceeded in  blockading  effectually  the  routes  from 
the  Atlantic  to  German  North  Sea  ports,  whilst 
at  the  same  time  securing  for  herself  practically 
unrestricted  commerce  with  the  outer  and  neu- 


126    What  Could  Germany  Do  For  Ireland? 

tral  world.  But  it  must  be  placed  on  record 
that  Germany's  use  of  the  Irish  coast  for  sub- 
marine warfare  on  British  shipping  has  ham- 
pered to  some  extent  England's  freedom  of  the 
seas,  and  at  the  same  time  has  inflicted  moral 
damage  on  England's  much  vaunted  reputation 
as  Mistress  of  the  Seas. 

England's  peril,  it  must  not  be  forgotten,  is 
not  so  much  invasion  as  starvation.  She  has 
become  almost  exclusively  a  manufacturing 
community.  Agriculture  has  been  so  neglected 
in  England  that  her  people  are  mainly  depen- 
dent upon  Ireland,  Denmark  and  America  for 
the  great  bulk  of  their  food  requirements.  Eng- 
land, enclosed  between  a  hostile  Ireland  and  a 
hostile  European  power,  such  as  Germany, 
would  be  in  a  position  of  grave  peril  as  regards 
her  food  supplies.  All  avenues  of  approach  to 
her  shores  by  sea  would  be  cut  off  and  her  in- 
sular position  and  deficiency  of  home-raised 
foodstuffs  would  render  a  protracted  resistance 
on  her  part  highly  improbable.  This  is  Eng- 
land's most  vulnerable  point,  and  her  continued 
occupation  of  Ireland  alone  saves  her  from  such 
a  plight.    Indisputably  Ireland  is  the  gateway 


The  Gateway  of  Europe  127 

of  Europe,  but  she  is  also  the  keystone  of  Brit- 
ish power  and  dominion  on  the  high  seas  of  the 
world.  When  Ireland  passes  out  of  English 
possession  the  sun  will  have  set  forever  on  the 
British  Empire. 


CHAPTER  VII 

IRISH   AGRICULTURAL   PROSPECTS 

Great  Britain,  holding  the  ear  of  the  world,  has 
convinced  investors  and  historians  that  Ireland 
is  only  snited  to  agricultural  pursuits  and  by 
nature  can  never  be  adapted  into  a  manufactur- 
ing nation.  So  the  government  sanctions  a  De- 
partment of  Agriculture  and  frowns  on  the 
proposition  to  create  a  Department  of  Indus- 
tries, lest  factories  might  arise  in  the  country. 

The  cattle  raised  in  Ireland  must  be  brought 
across  the  sea  to  English  slaughtering  and 
packing  houses.  This  Irish  meat,  when  it  comes 
from  the  abattoirs  of  England,  is  christened  on 
the  menu  prime  " English  beef.'' 

Despite  the  century-old  effort  of  the  govern- 
ing powers  to  confine  Ireland  to  farming,  they 
have  likewise  badly  bungled  the  system  of  agri- 
culture throughout  Ireland.  Continuous  crop- 
ping is  almost  unknown,  and  as  a  rule,  winter 
dairying  is  not  carried  on  to  any  important  ex- 
tent.   Such  foodstuffs  as  are  grown  mostly  have 

128 


Irish  Agricultural  Prospects  129 

to  be  exported,  and  the  farmer  is  then  compelled 
to  buy  inferior,  imported  foodstuffs,  both  for 
his  family  and  cattle.  Scientific  farming,  as  we 
find  it  in  Denmark,  Holland,  Belgium  and  Ger- 
many, is  rarely  found  in  any  part  of  Ireland. 
There  is  a  great  migration  of  farm  laborers  to 
England  in  harvesting  seasons.  Americans  will 
recall  the  Irish  farm  hands  in  England  last  sum- 
mer, who  fled  to  the  shores  of  this  country  for 
fear  they  would  be  drawn  into  the  British  army. 

The  telephone  that  we  see  in  nearly  every 
farmhouse  in  Kansas  and  Nebraska,  and  in 
rural  New  York,  is  hardly  seen  in  rural  Ireland. 
Not  one  out  of  a  hundred  Irish  farmers  has 
seen  motor-propelled  farm  machinery.  There 
are  not  more  than  three  or  four  agricultural 
credit  banks  in  the  country.  The  marketing  and 
transporting,  as  well  as  the  handling  of  prod- 
uce, is  crude  and  antiquated. 

If  our  Irish  farmers  could  but  employ  the 
German  scientific  methods  of  agriculture  on  as 
fruitful  a  soil,  with  its  copious  rains,  as  exists 
on  earth!  The  soil  of  Germany  is  poor  indeed 
as  compared  with  the  rich  and  fertile  soil  of 
Erin,  but  it  is  in  the  special  and  scientific  culti- 


130    What  Could  Germany  Do  For  Ireland? 

vation  of  the  land  that  Germany  excels.  Noth- 
ing is  wasted  that  human  energy  and  invention 
can  save.  Within  thirty  years  Germany,  with- 
out increasing  her  acreage,  has  increased  her 
yield  of  wheat  57  per  cent.,  and  other  crops 
from  50  to  80  per  cent.  She  has  become  the 
third  agricultural  country  in  the  world.  Irish 
potato  growers  will  be  interested  to  know  that 
Germany  leads  the  world  in  potatoes,  and  will 
have  a  crop  of  at  least  40,000,000  bushels  this 
year. 

Although  England  has  ordained  that  Ireland 
shall  live  and  die  an  agricultural  country,  yet 
the  people  of  Ireland  depend  on  America  for 
their  daily  bread,  and  have  been  so  dependent 
for  the  past  half -century.  The  wheat  crop  of 
Ireland  will  not  furnish  the  people  with  a  suf- 
ficient supply  of  bread  to  last  six  weeks.  They 
had  to  buy  $35,000,000  worth  of  wheat  and  flour 
last  year,  although  the  soil  of  Ireland  raises  as 
good  wheat  as  is  grown  anywhere.  Since  the 
British  union  with  Ireland,  the  wheat,  rye,  pea 
and  bean  crops  have  fallen  to  a  mere  fragment 
of  its  former  enormous  production.  The  linen 
industry  was  due  to  the  fine  quality  of  Irish  flax 


Irish  Agricultural  Prospects  131 

cultivated  in  the  soil.  In  1851  there  were  140,- 
536  acres  devoted  to  flax;  in  1913  the  acreage 
had  been  reduced  to  59,305.  In  consequence,  the 
war  blockade  on  flax  imports  has  brought  par- 
tial ruin  to  the  Belfast  linen  industry.  The  im- 
portation of  flax  from  Eussia  into  Ireland  has 
been  shut  out  by  the  German  blockade  of  the 
Baltic  Sea.  Flax  could  be  grown  in  many  parts 
of  Ireland,  but  the  farmers  are  without  flax 
seed.  Lack  of  preparation  is  notoriously  a 
British  characteristic,  as  the  world  has  found. 
The  loss  of  flax  alone  will  lose  Ireland  $15,000,- 
000  this  year. 

The  cultivation  of  the  sugar  beet  root,  as  well 
as  hops  and  hemp,  has  been  talked  of  in  Ireland 
for  twenty-five  years,  but  has  not  gone  beyond 
the  experimental  stage.  In  the  year  1900  the 
writer  was  in  Ireland,  and  in  a  printed  paper 
urged  the  cultivation  of  the  sugar  beet  and  the 
aid  of  American  capital  in  building  a  beet  sugar 
factory.  The  Beet  Sugar  Association  in  Cali- 
fornia was  interested,  but  nothing  came  of  the 
agitation.  The  writer  is  of  the  opinion  that  the 
sugar-making  industry  in  Ireland  would  sur- 
pass the  flax  and  linen  industry.    Experiments 


132    What  Could  Germany  Do  For  Ireland? 

made  in  Ireland  have  shown  that  with  the  neces- 
sary attention  to  proper  cultivation,  crops  of 
sugar  beet  comparing  favorably  in  yield  with 
Continental  crops  can  be  grown  in  Ireland.  For 
example,  in  spite  of  somewhat  adverse  weather 
conditions  in  1912  and  again  in  1913,  an  average 
yield  of  over  ten  tons  (factory  weight)  per  stat- 
ute acre  was  obtained  from  demonstration 
plots  in  Ireland.  Further,  the  sugar  content  of 
the  roots  was  equally  satisfactory,  being  18.5 
per  cent,  and  18.2  per  cent,  in  the  respective 
years.  In  quality,  purity,  proportion  of  juice, 
and  weight  of  yield,  it  has  been  shown  that 
Irish-grown  beet  can  equal,  if  not  surpass,  the 
great  Continental  sugar  fields.  The  introduc- 
tion of  beet  cultivation  and  sugar  refining  into 
Ireland  would  revolutionize  agriculture  in  Ire- 
land. The  soil  is  capable  of  growing  more  roots 
per  acre  than  Continental  soil,  and  the  per- 
centage of  saccharine  in  Irish  roots  is  greater 
than  in  roots  grown  abroad.  Great  Britain  and 
Ireland  are  great  sugar  consumers.  Therefore 
a  home  market  is  available;  freights  would  be 
saved.  Eefining  could  be  carried  on  at  a  lower 
cost  than  on  the  Continent,  and  coal,  coke  and 


Irish  Agricultural  Prospects  133 

limestone  are  cheaper  and  more  available.  Ger- 
man chemists,  supported  by  a  friendly  gowern- 
ment  and  capital  supplied  by  experienced  Amer- 
ican beet  sugar  factory  investors,  would  launch 
the  sugar  industry  in  Ireland.  Germany  leads 
the  world  in  this  industry,  producing  in  the  year 
1913  some  2,700,000  tons  of  beet  sugar.  Her 
success  is  due  to  chemistry  and  scientific,  im- 
proved cultivation,  and  the  invention  of  sugar 
producing  and  refining  machinery.  Take 
Waterf ord  in  Ireland,  for  instance,  the  constitu- 
ency of  John  Redmond.  The  beets  could  be 
grown  on  the  lands  adjoining  the  Eivers  Suir, 
Nore  and  Barrow,  and  brought  on  barges  to  the 
factory  at  Waterf  ord  City.  The  pulp  and  waste 
produce  could  be  returned  to  the  farmers  at  the 
minimum  of  freight  cost.  Waterford,  by  sea 
and  rail,  could  supply  the  important  sugar  dis- 
tributing centers  in  Ireland,  and  is  within  a  few 
hours'  steam  of  the  English  and  other  markets. 

In  Germany  during  the  past  forty  years  im- 
proved processes  have  "doubled  the  yield  of 
sugar  per  pound  of  beets,  while  the  the  crop  is 
50  per  cent,  greater  in  tonnage  per  acre." 

Transform  the  grazing  lands  into  cultivated 


134    What  Could  Germany  Do  For  Ireland? 

farms  and  break  down  the  British  policy  of 
large  ranches  for  raising  cattle  sent  to  England 
to  be  killed.  The  human  beings  of  Ireland  have 
been  reduced  from  8,500,000  to  4,000,000  in 
seventy  years,  but  the  lowing  beasts  of  the 
fields  have  increased  from  3,000,000  to  5,000,000 
head;  likewise,  sheep  and  poultry.  Ireland  is 
long  on  animals  and  short  on  men,  women  and 
children. 

The  agricultural  laborer  in  all  countries  is 
the  poorest  paid,  but  in  Ireland  we  find  a  worse 
state  for  him  than  anywhere  else.  According  to 
the  official  figures  of  the  year  1914,  the  plow- 
man in  Leinster  and  Connaught  averages  from 
$3.00  to  $3.50  per  week ;  in  Ulster  and  Munster, 
from  $3.50  to  $4.00  per  week;  cattlemen,  from 
$3.00  to  $3.50  per  week;  farm  laborers,  from 
$2.65  to  $3.50  per  week.  How  a  man  can  sup- 
port himself,  to  say  nothing  of  his  family,  on 
less  than  $4.00  per  week  we  leave  for  the  Irish 
Agricultural  Department  to  answer. 

Germany,  with  a  poorer  soil  than  Ireland, 
supports  a  vast  population,  with  a  wealth  per 
capita  for  each  farmer  more  than  nine  times 
as  great  as  the  wretched  average  of  Ireland,  de- 


Irish  Agricultural  Prospects  135 

spite  the  admitted  benefits  from  the  new  land 
laws. 

The  war  has  shut  off  the  sale  of  Irish  land 
scrip,  and  the  high  interest  rate  paid  on  war 
loan  bonds  are  attractive  to  investors  and  kill 
off  all  hope  of  investment  in  the  land  stock  of 
the  Irish  Government.  And  all  this  loan  for  the 
purchase  of  land  will  have  to  be  returned  to 
the  government,  mostly  from  the  lean  years  that 
will  follow  the  war.  The  wealth  of  the  island 
is  in  the  hands  of  others  than  natives,  and  a 
few  hundred  foreigners  own  nearly  40  per  cent, 
of  the  country. 

In  Germany  98  per  cent,  of  the  wealth  of  the 
empire  is  owned  by  the  middle  and  humble 
classes,  and  scarcely  2  per  cent,  is  controlled  by 
the  rich.  She  has  5,500,000  farmers,  3,000,000 
of  whom  occupy  small  farms  of  5  or  10  acres, 
and  make  them  pay.  For  agriculture  she  has 
250  training  schools,  eight  agricultural  colleges, 
attended  by  15,000  students,  and  there  are  4,500 
night  schools  instructing  scholars  in  agricul- 
ture. 

When  England  announced  that  her  fleet  in 
the  Pacific  Ocean  had  shortened  the  war  by  tak- 


136    What  Could  Germany  Do  For  Ireland? 

ing  away  from  Germany  the  Chilian  supply  of 
nitrate,  which  makes  gunpowder,  the  German 
students  produced  nitrogen  from  atmospheric 
moisture,  and  confounded  their  enemies. 

Among  the  farmers  of  Germany  there  are 
16,000  savings  and  loan  associations,  3,500  dairy 
associations,  2,500  purchasing  societies,  and 
3,000  other  societies  devoted  to  farmers,  accord- 
ing to  F.  Koster,  M.E.,  who  adds : 

These  societies  assist  the  farmer  in  every  possible 
way,  technically,  in  disseminating  knowledge  of  all 
kinds;  commercially,  in  purchasing  his  supplies,  in 
lending  him  money  on  his  growing  crops  and  other- 
wise, in  taking  his  products  off  his  hands  as  rapidly 
as  they  are  ready  for  market,  in  marketing  them,  in 
manufacturing  them  into  higher  forms,  in  disposing 
of  by-products;  and  sociologically,  in  improving  his 
opportunities  for  recreation  and  advancement  in  all 
ways. 

They  are  all  mostly  of  a  co-operative  nature  and 
the  middleman  being  eliminated,  they  secure  for  the 
farmer  the  most  for  his  money  and  the  most  money 
for  his  crops,  as  they  not  only  pay  him  the  full  prices 
to  which  he  is  entitled,  but  if  profits  accrue,  from 
whatever  activities,  they  are  distributed  in  the  form 
of  dividends. 

Such  societies  and  organizations  enable  the  far- 
mers in  a  neighborhood  to  purchase  expensive  machin- 
ery, such  as  electric  plows  and  harvesting  and  thresh- 
ing machinery.  Such  machinery  is  used  in  common 
and  thus,  at  the  lowest  possible  expense,  the  greatest 
possible  results  are  accomplished.    Electric  plowing, 


Irish  Agricultural  Prospects  137 

which  means  plowing  on  a  large  scale  cheaply,  has 
been  a  feature  of  German  agriculture  for  fifteen  years, 
but  no  electric  plow  has  yet  turned  a  furrow  in  the 
United  States. 

The  use  of  power  machinery  is  further  encouraged 
by  certain  societies  and  by  the  government  by  the 
erection  of  power  plants  utilizing  waterfalls.  Cur- 
rent so  generated  is  distributed  over  wide  areas  and 
sold  cheaply,  and  if  any  profit  is  made,  dividends  are 
paid  to  the  members  of  the  association.  Farmers  thus 
have  their  power,  light  and  heat  at  cost  when  within 
reach  of  such  a  plant.  This  is  a  great  advantage  and 
enables  crops  to  be  produced  with  the  minimum  of 
expense. 

This  provision  of  cheap  current  enables  the  installa- 
tion of  narrow-gauge  tracks,  which  are  very  numer- 
ous on  German  farms,  thus  saving  the  farmer  the 
great  expense  of  hauling  over  roads  to  market. 

Note  the  position  and  size  of  Ireland  on  the 
map,  only  a  few  miles  from  every  farm  to  a 
good  harbor,  if  there  were  facilities  of  trans- 
portation and  farming  done  in  the  most  modern 
manner. 

I  have  spoken  of  the  existence  of  so  few  agri- 
cultural banks  in  Ireland  as  an  evidence  of  the 
lack  of  co-operative  spirit  so  essential  to  all  real 
modern  success.  The  German  farmer  has  elim- 
inated the  money  lender,  the  banking  parasite, 
as  well  as  the  middlemen  selling  his  products. 
Credit    banks    and    selling    associations    have 


138    What  Could  Germany  Do  For  Ireland? 

brought  the  profits  direct  to  the  associations. 
The  English  middlemen  have  been  the  curse  of 
Irish  farming  for  many  years,  as  the  English 
Government  has  seen  to  it  that  the  island  can- 
not have  direct  shipping  to  countries  other  than 
England. 

German  science  has  found  the  means  of  suc- 
cessfully extracting  nitrogen  from  the  air,  a 
discovery  of  infinite  value  to  Ireland.  The  Ger- 
man system  of  agricultural  co-operation,  if  in- 
troduced into  Ireland,  would  soon  double  the 
farm  wealth  of  that  fertile  land.  In  1890  there 
were  3,006  of  these  German  farm  societies, 
which  in  1914  had  risen  to  36,032  societies  in  the 
association  called  "Keichsverbund."  Their 
functions  varied,  but  all  were  devoted  to  the  in- 
terests of  the  farmer,  both  as  producer  and  con- 
sumer. They  included  17,000  societies  to  regu- 
late loans  and  savings.  They  did  away  with  the 
middleman  and  the  truck  system  by  establishing 
clearing  houses,  making  the  farmer  independent 
of  banks  and  usurers.  Eecently  the  U.  S.  Comp- 
troller of  Currency  pointed  out  the  extortions 
practiced  on  cotton  planters  by  certain  Southern 
bankers.     The  German  farmers  buy  their  im- 


Irish  Agricultural  Prospects  139 

plements,  feed,  seed,  fertilizer,  etc.,  in  vast 
quantities  at  a  great  saving  through  their  pur- 
chasing societies.  They  get  the  best  goods, 
properly  inspected,  for  the  least  money.  They 
have  co-operative  societies  to  sell  their  grain, 
milk,  eggs  and  butter.  In  1909  there  were  119 
farmers'  societies  which  were  developing  elec- 
tric power  among  their  members,  a  thing  un- 
known on  Irish  farms. 


CHAPTER  VIII 

MEATS  AND  PROVISIONS 

We  have  shown  the  wasteful  and  unscientific 
methods  of  conducting  the  live  stock  trade  in 
Ireland.  Travelers  are  amazed  to  note  the  ab- 
sence of  slaughtering  and  packing  houses  in  a 
country  where  cattle  are  so  plentiful. 

We  are  told  that  Ireland  should  not  worry 
over  the  lack  of  a  dressed  meat  and  provision 
business  when  she  receives  close  on  to  $100,000,- 
000  per  annum  for  the  live  stock  she  sells  to 
England ;  it  matters  not  that  cattle  are  fast  dis- 
placing the  human  beings  on  the  land.  In  1851 
there  were  3  persons  in  Ireland  to  every  head 
of  cattle.  In  1913  there  were  more  cattle  in 
Ireland  than  human  beings.  The  changes  in 
this  period  involved  the  displacement  of  100 
persons  ofT  every  1,000  acres  of  land  in  Ireland, 
to  make  room  for  99  extra  cattle  and  76  addi- 
tional sheep.  The  British  Government  in  its 
reports  takes  great  credit  for  this  displacement 
of  people  with  animals.  They  do  not  apply  the 
system  of  substituting  animals  for  men  and 

140 


Meats  and  Provisions  141 

women  in  their  own  country.  In  England,  for 
every  1,045  persons  there  are  156  head  of  cat- 
tle, while  in  Ireland  for  every  215  persons  there 
are  242  head  of  cattle ;  but  we  are  told  that  this 
is  an  odious  comparison,  because  England  is 
mainly  a  manufacturing  country,  while  Ireland 
is  partly  an  agricultural  country  outside  of  the 
locality  in  and  around  Belfast. 

We  shall  see  from  the  following  official  table, 
however,  how  the  cattle  raising  traffic  assists  in 
the  economic  destruction  of  Ireland  by  forcing 
a  serious  decline  in  the  rural  population. 

Only  as  far  back  as  20  years  nearly  a  million 
persons  were  engaged  in  Irish  agriculture,  as 
compared  with  750,000  at  the  present  time.  The 
number  of  farm  laborers  has  been  reduced  62,- 
000  in  20  years,  and  notwithstanding  the  benefi- 
cent effects  of  the  land  acts,  the  farmers  hold- 
ing between  1  and  30  acres  have  been  reduced. 

This  condition  is  brought  about  by  the  pass- 
ing of  the  land  from  the  possession  of  the  small 
owners  into  the  cattle  ranches,  whose  size  in- 
creases from  year  to  year.  This  situation  is 
found  to  exist  only  in  localities  throughout  the 
world  where  other  industries  are  dead. 


142    What  Could  Germany  Do  For  Ireland? 

About  twelve  and  a  half  million  acres  of  soil 
were  devoted  exclusively  to  cattle  raising  in 
1913.  On  these  lands  were  five  million  head  of 
cattle,  of  which  32  per  cent,  were  milch  cows 
and  heifers  in  calf,  whereas  60  years  ago  the 
proportion  of  milch  cows  to  the  total  number  of 
cattle  was  45  per  cent.  This  fearful  neglect  by 
the  government  of  Ireland's  dairying  industry 
— the  most  profitable  end  of  a  live  stock  indus- 
try— deserves  condemnation.  While  the  dairy- 
ing industry  is  sacrificed  for  stock  raising,  the 
government  encourages  bounties  and  premiums 
for  the  export  of  live  stock.  The  British  meat 
supply  must  be  conserved,  regardless  of  any 
disastrous  effect  on  the  Irish  neighbor.  Men 
and  women  are  employed  about  a  dairy,  but  a 
herder  and  a  dog  are  all  the  labor  necessary  for 
ranch  cattle.  This  sacrifice  of  a  country's  re- 
sources is  never  tolerated  in  any  part  of  Ger- 
many, where  the  farming  industry,  the  most 
necessary,  is  developed  for  the  common  good. 
The  low  wages  paid  in  the  cattle  industry  tend 
to  dispense  with  rural  workers  generally,  and 
help  to  keep  wages  at  a  low  level  in  the  country 
districts. 


Meats  and  Provisions  143 

It  appears  that  Ireland  received  close  on  to 
$32,000,000  for  355,000  fat  cattle  exported  to 
England  in  the  year  1913,  whereas  for  the  re- 
maining 755,000  cattle  of  other  descriptions  ex- 
ported she  received  only  approximately  $46,- 
000,000.  It  is  evident,  therefore,  that  had  Ire- 
land's exports  consisted  of  fat  cattle  exclu- 
sively, her  cattle  raisers  would  have  received  at 
least  $20,000,000  per  year  more,  or  probably 
nearly  $200,000,000  more  in  the  last  ten  years. 
Ireland  is  not  permitted  to  fatten  the  cattle  she 
exports  to  England,  and  these  unfinished  cattle, 
which  are  fattened  subsequently  for  slaughter- 
ing purposes,  form  the  bulk  of  her  live  stock  ex- 
ports annually.  Thus  the  English  have  the  more 
profitable  end  of  the  business.  Cattle  raisers  in 
Ireland  have  to  forget  the  fact  that  the  frame 
of  the  beast  is  formed  at  the  expense  of  the  soil, 
and  only  when  its  growth  is  done  and  it  has  be- 
gun to  form  fat  will  it  return  to  the  soil  the  ma- 
nurial  value  of  the  food  it  consumes.  Some  of 
the  richest  soils  in  Meath  and  Limerick  have 
been  greatly  depreciated  in  their  fattening  ca- 
pacity owing  to  this  cause,  and  they  are  badly  in 
need  of  that  germane  potash  which  has  so  won- 


144    What  Could  Germany  Do  For  Ireland? 

drously  replenished  the  soil  of  Germany.  Thus 
we  see  the  lean  cattle  producers  suffering  from 
this  economic  abuse,  and  the  fertility  of  the  soil 
depleted.  Of  course,  such  cattle  shipped  to 
England  do  not  bring  the  price  of  good  beef. 
All  authorities  are  agreed  that  from  the  time 
the  cattle  are  taken  off  the  fields  until  they  are 
actually  slaughtered,  a  shrinkage  takes  place 
in  their  flesh  in  the  transit.  In  the  case  of  Irish 
cattle  brought  from  a  distant  farm  to  market, 
then  unloaded,  thence  shipped  on  a  sea  journey 
of  several  hours,  and  then  unshipped  at  an  Eng- 
lish port,  consigned  over  rail  again  to  the 
slaughter  house  for  conversion  into  beef,  it  is 
evident  that  not  only  a  loss  in  weight  has  oc- 
curred, but  also  a  depreciation  of  quality,  which 
results  in  Irish  cattle  bringing  low  prices  on  the 
English  market.  This  depreciation  in  quality 
averages  $5.00  per  head,  or  a  loss  to  Ireland  of 
at  least  $5,000,000  per  annum.  In  addition,  the 
Irish  producers  lose  the  profits  from  the  ma- 
nure, which  is  an  important  business ;  also  the 
hides,  hoofs,  horns,  intestines,  blood,  and  every 
particle  which  is  nowadays  saved  in  the  great 
packing  houses. 


Meats  and  Provisions  145 

In  Germany  the  cattle  are  invariably  slaugh- 
tered at  the  most  convenient  location  to  where 
the  animals  are  raised.  These  wasteful  methods 
of  disposing  of  cattle  cost  the  people  not  less 
than  $15,000,000  annually  on  the  live  cattle  ex- 
ported from  the  country.  In  ten  years'  time 
that  would  be  $150,000,000,  and  if  saved,  would 
have  enabled  the  farmers  to  have  acquired  and 
paid  for  more  land  for  dairying  purposes. 

Take  the  great  American  and  German  slaugh- 
tering houses  and  put  them  in  Ireland — there 
would  be  the  end  of  the  English  dressed  beef 
business,  made  out  of  Irish  cattle.  The  pack- 
ing house  industries  would  furnish  badly  needed 
employment  in  Ireland,  and  do  not  require  a 
great  amount  of  skilled  labor.  If  the  cattle  were 
saved  for  Ireland,  there  would  be  a  tanning  in- 
dustry, converting  the  hides  of  cattle  into 
leather. 

There  was  a  day  when  Ireland  had  an  impor- 
tant leather  producing  industry.  You  find  the 
ruins  there  of  hundreds  of  tanneries.  There  are 
not  a  dozen  tanneries  in  the  whole  of  Ireland 
today,  and  they  are  small  and  obsolete  in  their 
methods.    If  Ireland  could  adopt  the  German 


146    What  Could  Germany  Do  For  Ireland? 

system  of  abattoirs  and  tanneries  in  fixed  lo- 
calities, with  proper  transportation,  she  would 
preserve  her  own  meats,  make  her  soups,  and 
save  the  valuable  by-products  of  this  great  in- 
dustry. 

There  is  ever  present  the  ominous  dangers  of 
cattle  diseases.  The  way  the  business  is  con- 
ducted leaves  the  cattle  raiser  helpless,  or 
nearly  so,  at  the  outbreak  of  foot  and  mouth 
diseases,  all  of  which  attacks  are  met  in  Ger- 
many with  the  greatest  skill,  prompt  remedies, 
and  the  narrowing  of  districts  where  the  disease 
breaks  out.  One  epidemic  in  Ireland  a  few 
years  back  cost  the  country  some  $50,000,000, 
and  for  years  afterwards  lowered  the  price  of 
Irish  cattle  abroad.  Competitors  find  it  an  easy 
matter,  with  an  inefficient  government  failing 
to  protect  the  industries  of  the  island,  to  circu- 
late stories  as  to  the  bad  quality  of  the  Irish  cat- 
tle subject  to  disease.  The  salvation  of  the 
cattle  trade  in  Ireland  lies  in  new  economies,  in 
a  change  of  government,  in  the  complete  separa- 
tion of  the  island  from  English  rule,  and  con- 
verting the  business  into  a  dressed  meat  indus- 
try, such  as  has  been  successfully  done  in  Ger- 


Meats  and  Provisions  147 

many  and  the  United  States.  This  matter  af- 
fects many  classes  throughout  the  country,  and 
requires  the  firm  hand  of  an  independent  gov- 
ernment to  deal  with  it.  The  cattle  traders  of 
Ireland  are  financed  by  English  dealers,  and 
they  will  never  consent  to  let  them  initiate  pro- 
vision in  packing  houses.  A  free  and  firm  gov- 
ernment can  only  bring  this  relief  to  Ireland 
and  see  that  the  business  is  conducted  along 
co-operative  lines.  There  are  three  or  four 
small  abattoirs  in  Ireland,  but  feeble  affairs  as 
compared  with  the  great  factories  in  Germany. 
Ireland  is  splendidly  situated  for  the  develop- 
ment of  this  great  industry.  Her  pasture  lands 
are  among  the  best  for  fattening ;  her  cattle  fed 
from  her  own  land  make  as  good  beef  as  can  be 
procured.  The  largest  meat  consuming  mar- 
ket in  Europe  is  at  her  doors.  She  needs  free- 
dom, organization  and  capital,  supported  by  a 
firm  government,  sworn  and  determined  to  do 
justice  to  all.  Only  in  this  way  can  she  convert 
the  present  uneconomic  and  nationally  danger- 
ous cattle  traffic  into  an  industry  of  great  na- 
tional importance  and  immense  value  to  the 
Irish  nation. 


CHAPTER  IX 

RECLAMATION  AND  REFORESTATION 

Lady  Aberdeen  of  Scotland,  wife  of  the  ex- 
Governor-General  of  Ireland,  during  the  early 
days  of  her  husband's  late  administration  of 
Irish  affairs,  " disco vered"  that  Ireland  was 
afflicted  with  tuberculosis.  Out  of  the  fullness 
of  her  great  heart,  and  to  testify  in  a  marked 
and  public  manner  her  great  concern  for  the 
poor  people  of  Ireland,  "her  ladyship"  forth- 
with proceeded  to  enlighten  an  otherwise  ig- 
norant world  of  the  declining  state  of  health 
among  the  remnants  of  the  Irish,  and  how  very 
necessary  it  was  that  preventative  action  should 
be  taken  to  check  the  ravages  of  the  white 
plague  in  Ireland.  America,  in  common  with 
all  other  countries,  was  informed  of  this  latest 
affliction  that  had  befallen  the  poor  people.  To 
make  assurance  doubly  sure,  Lady  Aberdeen 
widely  advertised  that  the  Irish  laces  offered 
for  sale  in  her  lace  shop  in  Dublin  (for  "her 
ladyship,"  as  is  well  known  to  the  merchants 
and  people  of  Dublin,  is  of  a  truly  commercial 

148 


Reclamation  and  Reforestation         149 

disposition)  were  thoroughly  disinfected  before 
being  sold  at  home  or  abroad.  The  unfortunate 
effect  of  this  benevolent  solicitude  for  the  wel- 
fare of  the  poor  Irish  was  that  it  ruined  an- 
other Irish  industry,  and  that,  too,  the  one  car- 
ried on  in  the  homes  of  the  cottiers  all  over  the 
country.  In  support  of  this  statement  it  is  only 
necessary  to  quote  the  official  returns  of  Ire- 
land's trade  in  laces  during  the  period  of  Lord 
Aberdeen's  late  vice-royalty  in  Ireland.  These 
returns  tell  us  that  in  1909  Ireland  exported 
lace  valued  at  $500,000.  In  1913  Ireland's  lace 
exports  had  fallen  to  $327,500,  or  a  loss  to  the 
cottage  lace-workers  of  Ireland,  that  year,  of 
$172,500.  A  truly  creditable  achievement  in  the 
interest  of  the  health  of  the  Irish  people!  At 
the  time  that  Lady  Aberdeen  made  this  wonder- 
ful discovery,  her  husband  had  in  his  posses- 
sion, in  Dublin  Castle,  a  report  written  to  him, 
as  head  of  the  Irish  Government  of  the  day, 
dealing  with  the  necessity  for  arterial  drainage 
in  Ireland,  drawn  up  by  a  Royal  Commission 
appointed  by  Lord  Aberdeen's  predecessor  in 
office,  Lord  Dudley.  This  report,  commenting 
on  the  prevalence  of  tuberculosis  in  the  rural 


150    What  Could  Germany  Do  For  Ireland? 

districts  of  Ireland,  said,  in  effect,  that  arterial 
drainage  would  react  favorably  on  the  public 
health ;  there  would  be  less  pulmonary  disease, 
less  rheumatism,  and  less  predisposition  to  dis- 
ease generally.  But  neither  Lord  Aberdeen  nor 
the  government  he  represented  took  any  steps 
to  put  the  findings  of  this  or  previous  Eoyal 
Commissions  on  the  same  subject  into  effect, 
and  accordingly  it  must  be  inferred  that  kind- 
hearted  Lady  Aberdeen  failed  to  influence  her 
husband  to  concern  himself  with  the  health  of 
the  native  Irish.  It  is  unquestioned  that  the 
undue  prevalence  of  tuberculosis  in  Ireland  is 
attributable  in  part  to  the  dampness  of  the  cli- 
mate of  Ireland,  and  that  raising  the  mean  tem- 
perature of  the  country  generally  would  result 
in  better  health  among  the  people  and  eradicate 
to  an  appreciable  extent  the  predisposition  to 
contract  disease  that  the  Irish  of  today,  to  judge 
from  Irish  vital  statistics,  suffer  from. 

Sir  Bichard  Griffith,  in  his  "Survey  of  Ire- 
land,' '  compiled  between  the  years  1809  and 
1814,  estimated  the  area  of  waste  land  of 
all  kinds — salt  marshes,  bogs,  mountainous  and 
upland  wastes,  dunes — to  be  6,000,000  acres, 


Reclamation  and  Reforestation         151 

half,  roughly,  suitable  for  planting  and  half  for 
reclamation  for  agriculture.  Considering  the 
utter  neglect  of  the  country  since  the  British 
union,  it  is  safe  to  say  that  the  area  of  waste 
land  in  Ireland  is  now  very  much  larger  than 
it  was  at  the  time  Sir  R.  Griffith  made  the  sur- 
vey just  referred  to.  Unlike  most  countries, 
Ireland's  mountains  are  located  in  the  maritime 
counties,  leaving  the  interior  flat  and  of  low 
elevation.  As  a  consequence,  the  rivers  of  Ire- 
land are  sluggish,  the  fall  being  slight.  An- 
other characteristic  is  the  number  and  size  of 
the  lakes.  Lough  Neagh,  covering  153  square 
miles,  is  the  largest  in  the  United  Kingdom; 
the  Fermanagh  lakes  are  traversible  for  a 
length  of  40  miles;  the  lakes  or  expansions  of 
the  River  Shannon  (224  miles  long) ;  the  chains 
of  lakes  in  Connemara  and  Cavan,  and  finally, 
the  widely  known  lakes  of  Killarney.  There 
are  the  bogs  of  Ireland,  distributed  through 
every  county  and  covering  a  seventh  of  the  en- 
tire surface  of  the  country.  These  act  as 
mighty  sponges  filled  with  water,  always  send- 
ing up  vapor.  The  humidity  of  Ireland  is  re- 
markable for  a  country  so  geographically  situ- 


152    What  Could  Germany  Bo  For  Ireland? 

ated.  This  is  due  partly  to  the  Gulf  Stream, 
partly  to  the  prevailing  southwesterly  winds 
that  come  over  the  Atlantic  laden  with  moisture, 
and  more  especially  to  the  great  lodgment  of 
water  all  over  the  country.  In  summertime  the 
evaporation  is  excessive;  the  vapor  constantly 
ascending  from  the  midlands  of  Ireland  forms 
clouds  that  diminish  the  amount  of  sunshine, 
affect  vegetation  and  seriously  impair  the  gen- 
eral health  of  the  community.  It  is  known  to 
scientific  agriculturists  that  the  greater  or  less 
dryness  of  a  soil  influences  the  nature  of  the 
vegetation  it  tends  to  nourish.  The  presence 
of  water  affects  the  character  of  the  natural 
vegetation,  renders  soil  unfit  for  the  cultivation 
of  plants  sprung  from  a  dry  situation,  prevents 
the  rays  of  the  sun  from  warming  the  substance 
of  the  soil,  and  accordingly,  retards  vegetation. 
Dealing  with  the  Irish  aspect  of  this  question, 
Sir  R.  Kane  tells  us  that : 

The  question  of  drainage  becomes  of  very  consider- 
able importance  in  relation  to  the  lands  of  the  lime- 
stone plain,  in  which,  being  situated  at  such  moderate 
altitude,  and  with  so  gentle  an  inclination  of  surface, 
the  rivers  and  lakes,  on  any  considerable  fall  of  rain, 
are  apt  to  overflow  their  banks  and,  flooding  con- 
siderable districts,  destroy  a  serious  amount  of  agri- 
cultural produce. 


Reclamation  and  Reforestation         153 

He  tells  us  that  the  Shannon,  above  Lough 
Berg,  flooded,  at  ordinary  rises,  32,000  acres 
along  its  banks.  One  of  the  numerous  Royal 
Commissions  on  this  subject  stated  that  "the 
upper  portion  of  the  catchment  area  of  the 
River  Barrow,  extending  down  to  Athy,  con- 
tains an  area  of  408,000  acres,  of  which  46,000 
are  flooded  or  injured  by  floods."  In  County 
Fermanagh  a  low  estimate  places  the  area  in- 
jured by  the  flooding  of  the  lakes  at  12,000  acres. 
In  a  word,  practically  every  river  or  lake  of  any 
dimensions  in  the  country  floods  annually  thou- 
sands of  acres  of  cultivable  soil  in  winter  time, 
thus  retarding  tillage  operations,  and  when 
such  floodings  occur  in  summertime,  the  loss  to 
the  farming  community  and  to  the  general  pros- 
perity of  the  country  is  almost  incalculable.  It 
is  demonstrated  that  arterial  drainage  is  a  vital 
necessity  in  a  country  like  Ireland.  Let  us  see 
what  the  British  Governors  of  the  country  have 
accomplished  towards  that  end.  In  the  Airport 
Commission  of  1887  the  following  indictment  of 
British  administration  in  Ireland  is  to  be  found. 
The  Dudley  Commission  of  a  few  years  back 
fully  endorses  this  finding: 


154    What  Could  Germany  Do  For  Ireland? 

There  is  no  system  in  Ireland  for  the  conservancy 
of  rivers,  nor  any  department  of  government  charged 
with  the  subject,  and  in  many  cases  where  the  proper 
regulation  of  a  river  is  a  matter  of  public  concern, 
it  is  under  the  control  of  no  one,  and  is  often  ob- 
structed and  neglected.  We  find  drainage  districts 
formed  without  any  regard  to  the  interests  of  the 
larger  river  basins  in  which  they  lie,  and  so  arranged 
as  to  escape  their  share  of  what  should  be  a  common 
responsibility.  On  the  other  hand,  the  boundaries  of 
such  districts  are  often  so  arranged  as  to  impose  on 
their  promoters  responsibility  which  ought  to  be 
shared  by  others,  and  to  force  these  promoters  to  con- 
fer benefits  on  their  neighbors  towards  the  cost  of 
which  the  latter  contribute  nothing.  (Here  follows 
an  elaborated  description  of  other  anomalies  existing 
in  Ireland.  The  conclusion  arrived  at  was:)  Some 
of  these  evils  arise  from  the  changes  of  policy  during 
the  operation  of  the  Act  of  1842,  but  for  the  most  of 
them,  the  present  system  must  he  held  responsible. 

The  Dudley  Commission  endorsed  the  Allport 
Commission's  observations  on  the  River  Bar- 
row district,  and  added:  "Altogether,  the  con- 
dition of  this  district  may  be  described  as  de- 
plorable. ' '  Asking  what  was  done  in  the  inter- 
val between  the  two  commissions  that  were  ap- 
pointed to  deal  with  the  problem,  the  Dudley 
Commissioners  answered  their  own  question  in 
the  following  passage : 

Nothing,  save  the  making  of  surveys,  maps,  plans, 
and  estimates,  has  yet  been  done  either  by  the  State 
or  by  any  combination  of  owners  towards  the  curing 
or  even  the  mitigation  of  the  evils  complained  of, 


Reclamation  and  Reforestation         155 

whilst  we  had  abundant  testimony  that  the  flooding 
and  the  subsequent  injury  are  growing  greater  year 
by  year.  The  case  of  the  River  Bann  differs  from 
others  in  Ireland,  once  similarly  circumstanced,  in 
that  no  expenditure  by  the  State  has  ever  taken  place, 
although  the  task  of  clearing  the  main  outfall  is  mani- 
festly beyond  the  reach  of  private  enterprise. 

How  serious  the  condition  of  the  country 
when  these  two  British  boards  were  compelled 
to  report  as  they  did !  If  the  English  Govern- 
ment has  done  nothing  for  the  arterial  drainage 
of  the  country,  it  is  consoling  to  know  that  pri-' 
vate  enterprise  in  Ireland  has  alleviated  some- 
what the  condition  of  things.  Also,  this  failure 
of  England  to  mitigate  the  evils  of  inundation, 
etc.,  is  in  marked  contrast  to  the  policy  and  ac- 
tions of  the  Irish  Parliament  in  pre-nnion  days, 
which  passed  acts  and  provided  money  "to  en- 
courage the  draining  and  improvement  of  the 
bogs,"  and  thus  attempted  in  a  statesmanlike 
manner  to  discharge  a  national  duty.  Reclama- 
tion as  a  public  work  in  Ireland  has,  notwith- 
standing all  the  blundering  and  difficulties  in 
the  way,  proved  remunerative.  To  reclaim  a 
million  acres  would  cost,  roughly,  $50,000,000. 
From  such  an  expenditure  a  considerable  re- 
turn might  be  expected.    Also,  such  work  would 


156    What  Could  Germany  Do  For  Ireland? 

facilitate  and  improve  tillage,  would  give  em- 
ployment, wonld  increase  the  value  of  the  land, 
and  by  raising  the  mean  temperature  of  the 
country  would  contribute  powerfully  towards 
improving  the  general  health  of  the  race.  One 
has  only  to  look  across  at  the  Continent  of 
Europe  to  see  the  transformation  effected  there 
by  scientifically  directed  reclamation.  Holland, 
now  one  of  the  richest  agricultural  countries  in 
the  world,  much  smaller  than  Ireland,  consists 
largely  of  reclaimed  land,  much  of  which  has 
been  carried  out  at  enormous  expense  and  with 
great  daring,  such  as  pumping  out  lakes  and 
seas.  The  transformation  of  Lake  Haarlen  into 
45,000  acres  of  meadowland  was  a  work  that 
cost  $100  per  acre,  but  the  government  sold  the 
land  to  tillers  at  that  figure.  Holland*  has  ex- 
pended close  upon  $1,500,000,000  on  reclamation 
work ;  France  has  spent  $140,000,000 ;  Hungary 
some  $1,100,000,000;  Austria  some  $1,000,000,- 
000;  Belgium  some  $80,000,000.  In  Germany, 
immense    stretches    of   waste-land   have   been 

*England  has  narrowed  down  the  exports  of  Ireland  to 
countries,  outside  of  England,  so  that  the  total  direct  oversea 
trade  of  the  island  is  hardly  $7,000,000,  or  about  $2  per  capita. 
The  foreign  trade  of  Holland,  hardly  one-third  the  area  of 
Ireland,  with  countries  other  than  England  equals  $60  per, 
capita  or  thirty  times  as  great  as  that  of  Ireland. 


Reclamation  and  Reforestation         157 

brought  into  tillage,  and  it  is  stated  that  the 
area  of  land  given  over  to  grain  cultivation  has 
been  doubled  in  the  past  forty  years  by  these 
methods.  Reviewing  the  progress  made  by  all 
these  nations  within  recent  years,  it  cannot  be 
disputed  that  their  respective  governments  had 
the  best  interests  of  their  countries  at  heart  in 
undertaking,  at  the  public  expense,  reclamation 
works  of  the  character  indicated,  which  is  now 
being  done  in  America.  Each  of  those  govern- 
ments was  actuated  by  the  belief  that  in  im- 
proving the  soil  of  the  country  they  conferred 
an  advantage  on  every  interest  in  the  country; 
they  assisted  agriculture,  and  by  improving  the 
waterways  of  the  country  they  contributed  ma- 
terially to  the  development  of  traffic.  It  will 
not  be  disputed  that  principles  common  to  all 
progressive  countries  on  the  Continent  may  be 
adapted  to  Irish  circumstances,  and  with  every 
possibility  of  equal,  if  not,  indeed,  greater, 
success  in  their  practical  application.  No  coun- 
try in  Europe  so  sadly  needs  reclamation  as 
Ireland,  and  it  must  be  the  first  concern  of  an 
Irish  Government  to  undertake  such  work  for 
the  ultimate  benefit  of  the  land. 


158    What  Could  Germany  Do  For  Ireland? 

Side  by  side  with  this  work,  and,  indeed,  as 
part  of  it,  the  re-afforesting  of  Ireland  must 
likewise  be  undertaken.  Ireland  was  so  covered 
with  timber  at  one  period  of  her  history  as  to 
be  known  by  the  name  of ' ' The  Isle  of  Woods.' ' 
Her  peat  resources  attest  to  this  fact  today. 
Yet  no  country  in  Europe  is  at  the  present  mo- 
ment so  bare  of  trees,  and  no  country  could  be 
so  benefitted  by  sylviculture  as  Ireland.  Such 
work  would  not  alone  give  immediate  employ- 
ment to  thousands  of  workers,  but  would  ulti- 
mately prove  profitable  to  the  whole  country. 
The  late  Professor  W.  K.  Sullivan,  President  of 
University  College,  Cork,  in  1855  urged  the 
English  Government  to  plant  the  mountainsides 
of  the  country,  but  his  advice  was  not  heeded. 
At  the  same  time  a  Danish  forest  conservator, 
after  a  survey  of  Ireland,  stated:  "I  think  the 
question  of  planting  Ireland  is  one  of  vast  im- 
portance to  that  country,  and  that  instead  of 
having  five  millions  of  people  (since  reduced  to 
almost  four),  she  ought  to  have  five  and 
twenty. ' '  In  India  the  British  Government  car- 
ried out  a  different  policy,  and  the  State  For- 
ests there  today  cover  an  area  of  250,000  square 


Reclamation  and  Reforestation         159 

miles.  The  Irish  Parliament,  before  its  absorp- 
tion into  that  of  England,  granted  bounties  to 
promote  tree  cultivation  throughout  Ireland. 
When  the  union  became  a  fait  accompli,  the 
bounties  and  tree  propagation  were  discon- 
tinued by  the  British  Parliament.  Unquestion- 
ably the  British  Government  is  largely  liable 
for  the  deforesting  of  Ireland.  Lord  Castle- 
town, President  of  the  Irish  Forestry  Society, 
has  stated  that  there  is  a  purely  Irish  fund  of 
about  $150,000  a  year  "quit  rents"  sent  over 
from  Ireland  to  enrich  the  woods  and  forest  de- 
partment in  England.  A  reminder  of  the  finan- 
cial plunder  of  Ireland  on  which  the  mighty 
British  Empire  has  been  upbuilt ! 

There  are  upwards  of  2,000,000  acres  of  land 
in  Ireland  serving  no  economic  purpose  that 
are  admirably  suited  for  planting.  Indeed,  for- 
estry is  one  of  the  most  important  directions  in 
which  the  state  can  increase  the  wealth  of  Ire- 
land. All  the  waste-land  in  Ireland  is  capable 
of  growing  one  kind  or  another  of  timber.  In 
this  respect  a  Director  of  Forests,  under  an 
Irish  Parliament,  would  have  the  experience  of 
forest  conservators  all  over  Europe  to  guide 


160    What  Could  Germany  Do  For  Ireland? 

him  as  to  the  description  of  plants  to  be  culti- 
vated in  the  different  districts  and  soils  of  Ire- 
land. The  story  of  the  reclamation  of  Les 
Landes  in  France  since  1850  is  one  that  any 
people  might  feel  justly  proud  of,  where  a  dis- 
trict comprising  close  on  2,000,000  acres  of  un- 
cultivated, uninhabited  waste  has  been  con- 
verted into  one  of  the  most  wealthy  and  pros- 
perous in  the  whole  of  France.  The  Director 
of  an  Irish  Department  of  Forests  will  find  con- 
siderable information  and  guidance  in  a  study 
of  this  brilliant  exploit  of  the  French  people. 
Eoundly  speaking,  the  value  of  the  forests  of 
Les  Landes  to  France  today  would  approximate 
$60,000,000.  The  story  of  Germany  in  this  re- 
spect is  even  brighter  still.  In  all  Germany  to- 
day there  are  some  35,000,000  acres  of  forest 
land,  of  which  the  various  states  own  some  11,- 
000,000  acres,  whilst  the  towns  and  communes 
own  close  on  6,000,000  acres.  Prussia  owns 
over  1,000,000  acres  of  forest,  from  which  she 
derives  more  than  100,000,000  marks  net  every 
year,  which  goes  towards  lessening  taxation. 
From  a  publication  issued  from  the  Department 
of  Agriculture,  Washington,  the  following  is 


Reclamation  and  Reforestation         161 

taken,  as  it  deals  with  the  German  forestry  sys- 
tem: 

Forest  experts  of  all  nationalities  agree  that  Ger- 
many is  in  an  enviable  position  as  regards  her  lum- 
ber supply.  No  nation  in  the  world  makes  more 
thorough  utilization  of  its  forest  resources.  German 
forestry  is  remarkable  in  three  ways:  It  has  always 
led  in  scientific  thoroughness,  and  now  it  is  working 
out  results  with  an  exactness  almost  equal  to  that  of 
the  laboratory;  it  has  applied  this  scientific  knowl- 
edge with  the  greatest  technical  success;  and  it  has 
solved  the  problem  of  securing,  through  a  long  series 
of  years,  an  increasing  forest  output,  and  increasing 
profits  at  the  same  time.  Starting  with  forests  that 
were  in  as  bad  shape  as  many  of  our  own  cut-over 
areas,  Germany  raised  the  average  yield  of  wood  per 
acre  from  20  cubic  feet  in  1830  to  75  cubic  feet  in 
1908.  During  the  same  period  it  trebled  the  propor- 
tion of  saw  timber  secured  from  the  average  cut, 
which  means,  in  other  words,  that  through  the  prac- 
tice of  forestry  the  timberlands  of  Germany  are  of 
three  times  better  quality  today  than  when  no  system 
was  used.  In  a  little  over  half  a  century  it  increased 
the  money  returns  from  an  average  acre  of  forest 
sevenfold,  and  today  the  forests  are  in  better  condi- 
tion than  ever  before. 

Truly,  Germany  could  teach  Ireland  many 
useful  lessons  as  to  tree  culture.  Let  us  see 
how  Ireland  stands  in  this  matter,  as  compared 
with  the  other  parts  of  the  so-called  United 
Kingdom.  Of  the  total  area  of  Ireland  less  than 
1.5  per  cent,  is  under  woods.    In  England  they 


162    What  Could  Germany  Do  For  Ireland? 

form  5.3  per  cent. ;  in  Scotland,  4.5  per  cent.,  and 
in  Wales,  3.9  per  cent,  of  the  total  areas.  Here 
we  find  Ireland  again  treated  differently  from 
each  of  the  other  countries  in  the  Union.  In 
1880  there  were  339,858  statute  acres  under 
woods  and  plantations  in  Ireland.  In  1913  there 
were  only  297,809  acres  returned  as  being  under 
woods,  etc.  Eight  down  through  the  years  a 
continuous  diminution  of  the  area  planted  in 
Ireland  has  taken  place.  In  1913  close  upon 
600,000  trees  were  felled  in  Ireland,  represent- 
ing an  area  of  close  on  1,500  acres.  As  against 
this  clearance,  only  some  1,150  acres  were 
planted.  And  there  is  no  authority  to  prevent 
further  felling,  or  to  insist  upon  planting  two 
or  more  trees  for  each  one  felled.  The  great 
bulk  of  the  timber  felled  each  year  in  Ireland  is 
exported  in  the  rough  to  England,  where  it  is 
largely  used  for  mining  purposes.  Ireland  re- 
ceives, on  an  average,  each  year  for  the  timber 
she  exports  $1,250,000.  As  against  this,  she  im- 
ports timber  and  manufactures  thereof  to  the 
estimated  annual  value  of  close  on  $9,000,000. 
In  addition  to  this  amount,  furniture  to  the  an- 
nual value  of  $2,500,000  is  also  imported  into 


Reclamation  and  Reforestation         163 

the  country.  That  is  to  say,  Ireland  at  present 
exports  the  raw  material,  timber,  and  subse- 
quently imports  it  in  manufactured  products. 
A  truly  wasteful  and  uneconomic  procedure !  It 
is  inconceivable  that  Ireland,  under  any  other 
form  of  government  than  that  under  which  she 
groans  today,  would  continue  conducting  her 
economic  affairs  along  such  destructive  lines. 
An  examination  into  the  ages  of  the  woods  now 
standing  in  Ireland  shows  that  there  has  been 
a  considerable,  nay,  a  serious,  falling  off  in 
planting  in  the  past  twenty-five  years,  and  that 
it  is  inevitable  that  a  shortage  of  timber  must 
occur  in  the  next  half-century  if  the  present 
rate  of  felling  be  maintained.  In  its  own  in- 
terest Ireland  must  recover  its  forest  area.  To 
plant  the  entire  area  of  some  4,000,000  acres 
would  cost  not  more  than  $100,000,000,  and  the 
undertaking  would  be  profitable  commercially. 
The  calculation  on  which  this  is  based  takes  no 
account  of  the  element  in  developing  industries 
connected  with  forest  cultivation,  of  which 
both  Germany  and  France  are  such  inspiring 
models.  The  wealth  of  both  these  countries  de- 
rived from  industries  carried  on  in  connection 
with  and  arising  out  of  their  respective  forests 


164    What  Could  Germany  Do  For  Ireland? 

is  practically  incalculable.  But  scientific  for- 
estry carried  out  on  a  national  scale  would  have 
other  beneficial  effects  on  Ireland.  Were  the 
western  coast  of  Ireland  planted  with  a  shelter 
belt  of  timber,  it  would  protect  the  lands  from 
the  violence  of  Atlantic  storms,  which  carry 
with  them  inland  many  ingredients  injurious  to 
agricultural  produce.  The  planting  of  moun- 
tains would  tend  to  equalize  the  rainfall  and 
temperature,  and  would  prevent  upland  soils 
being  washed  away  by  torrents,  thus  preventing 
rivers  being  silted  up  and  lowlands  flooded,  as 
so  frequently  happens,  with  highly  injurious  ef- 
fects to  cultivation.  Plantations  along  river 
banks  would  encourage  increase  in  fish  by 
reason  of  the  shade  afforded,  the  steady  supply 
of  water  thus  promoted,  and  the  food  they  bring 
for  the  sustenance  of  trout  and  salmon  fry. 
Forest  game  could  be  propagated  and  the  state 
derive  rent  from  such  preserves.  Then,  again, 
the  waste-lands  so  planted  would,  in  the  course 
of  time,  and  by  reason  of  the  falling  leaves,  be- 
come enriched  and  their  grazing  would  thus  be- 
come another  source  of  revenue  to  the  state. 
The  greatest  value  of  all  to  the  state  would  be 
the  timber  so  planted  and  its  by-products  (bark, 


Reclamation  and  Reforestation         165 

charcoal,  leaves,  fallen  timber,  resin,  pitch, 
turpentine,  etc.),  the  immediate  agricultural 
products,  and  the  series  of  wood-working  indus- 
tries, including  basket-making  from  osiers,  for 
the  growing  of  which  both  the  soil  and  climate 
of  Ireland  are  admirably  adapted,  and  which 
would  bring  a  return  in  three  years  and  pro- 
vide large,  constant  and  remunerative  employ- 
ment in  rural  districts.  The  manufacture  of 
paper  from  wood  pulp  could  also  be  undertaken. 
Such  a  policy,  when  put  into  effect  by  a  national 
government  in  Ireland,  will  work  untold  good 
for  the  whole  community  and  will  remove  the 
reproach  contained  in  the  following  only  too 
accurate  description  of  the  physical  appearance 
of  the  Irish  countryside  of  Sir  E.  Kane's  day 
and  ours: 

There  is  no  feature  of  an  Irish  landscape  more 
characteristic  than  the  desert  baldness  of  onr  hills, 
which,  robbed  of  those  sylvan  honors  that  elsewhere 
diversify  a  rural  prospect,  present  to  every  eye  a  type 
of  the  desolation  which  has  overspread  the  land. 

In  the  scientifically  planned  and  nationally 
conducted  reclamation  and  afforestation  of  Ire- 
land the  future  Irish  State  will  find  ample 
wealth  to  promote  the  industrial  development 
of  the  entire  country. 


CHAPTER  X 

PORTLAND  CEMENT  MILLS 

We  find  vast  deposits  of  limestone  in  many 
parts  of  Ireland.  There  is  little  timber  and  the 
houses  are  built  of  limestone.  There  are  fine 
marble  beds,  black  marble,  pure  white  near 
Connemara,  and  Cork  County  contains  various 
colored  marbles.  Over  the  vast  area  of  this 
limestone  formation,  close  to  the  best  harbors, 
the  opportunity  for  mills  making  portland 
cement  are  many. 

In  the  old  days  of  sailing  vessels  limestone 
was  largely  exported  from  Ireland.  There  is 
one  very  small  portland  cement  mill  at  Wex- 
ford. The  Department  of  Agriculture  has 
frowned  on  the  making  of  cement  in  great  mills 
in  Ireland,  as  they  have  the  material  to  make  it 
cheaper,  and  that  competition  would  hurt  the 
British  cement  industry.  A  mill,  such  as  the 
Universal  or  the  Atlas  of  the  United  States, 
turning  out  50,000  to  75,000  barrels  of  cement 
a  day,  would  be  welcomed  in  Ireland,  but  Eng- 
land would  never  tolerate  the  invasion.    Cement 

166 


Portland  Cement  Mills  167 

mills  located  near  unused  coal  lands  and  low 
railway  service  would  employ  50,000  hands  and 
support  400,000  people.  The  railroads  in  Ire- 
land are  controlled  by  the  same  capitalists  who 
own  the  railroads  of  England,  and  they  would 
not  be  inclined  to  favor  industries  whose  devel- 
opment might  tend  to  reduce  dividends  on  the 
English  railways.  With  German  aid,  we  should 
hope  to  see  the  railroads  in  the  hands  of  the 
Irish  National  Government. 

The  Wolf  hill  Colliery,  Queen's  County,  is 
favorably  situated  for  the  successful  manufac- 
ture of  cement,  inasmuch  as  it  is  adjacent  to 
the  Barrow  navigation,  which  runs  south  to 
Waterford,  through  Kidare,  Carlow,  Kilkenny 
and  Wexford;  thence  the  cement  could  be 
carried  up  the  Eiver  Suir  navigation  to  Clon- 
mel  in  Tipperary.  From  Athy  north,  the  Grand 
Canal  connects  with  Dublin  on  the  east  and  the 
River  Shannon  on  the  west,  whence  traffic  is 
carried  over  the  latter  navigation  to  Limerick 
on  the  southwest  and  Carrick-on-Shannon  in 
County  Leitrim.  It  would  seem  that  portland 
cement  manufactories  established  at  Cork,  Athy 
and    Belfast    would    be    capable    of    meeting 


168    What  Could  Germany  Do  For  Ireland? 

the  domestic  demand  in  Ireland  for  cement,  and 
at  the  same  time  supply  the  much  larger  exter- 
nal market  in  neighboring  countries.  With 
modern,  well-maintained  plants,  cement  manu- 
factories in  these  places  would  be  successful. 
Ireland,  therefore,  not  only  possesses  abun- 
dance of  suitable  cement-making  materials,  but 
such  materials  are  conveniently  placed,  and  are 
of  such  a  nature  as  to  admit  of  manufacture  by 
the  most  economical  methods  as  regards  fuel 
consumption.  Indeed,  with  the  due  and  proper 
development  of  coal  mining  in  Ireland,  and  with 
the  proper  and  scientific  treatment  of  her  peat 
resources,  Ireland  will  be  more  than  favorably 
situated  for  the  manufacture  of  this  commodity, 
the  possibilities  of  which  are  but  now  being- 
realized  by  engineers  the  world  over. 

There  are  but  two  small  factories  in  Ireland 
for  converting  limestone  into  calcium  carbide, 
from  which  acetylene  gas  is  generated.  Many 
of  the  English  and  Scotch  carbide  factories 
draw  their  limestone  supplies  from  Ireland. 
Under  scientific  direction  there  is  certain  to  be 
a  future  for  the  development  of  this  industry 
in  Ireland. 


CHAPTER  XI 

POWER  AND  FUEL 

Power  and  fuel  play  so  important  a  part  in  all 
industrial  effort  that  at  the  risk  of  being  weari- 
some, we  continue  to  refer  to  these  all-impor- 
tant factors. 

In  dealing  with  Ireland  it  is  of  vital  impor- 
tance to  ascertain  accurately  the  extent  to  which 
both  power  and  fuel  are  available  for  industrial 
purposes.  English  writers  argue  that  Ireland's 
deficiency  in  both  these  forces  is  mainly  re- 
sponsible for  her  present  backward  industrial 
condition,  and  they  have  advanced  this  as  a 
reason  to  justify  English  economic  policy  in 
regard  to  Ireland.  The  possession  of  coal  and 
iron  is  the  chief  source  of  England's  indus- 
trial pre-eminence.  Englishmen  have  come  to 
believe  that  countries  not  possessing  coal  or 
iron  cannot  become  manufacturing  nations.  It 
is  only  necessary  to  look  across  at  Europe  to 
see  that  such  a  contention  cannot  and  does  not 
hold  good.    Belgium,  Holland  and  Switzerland 

169 


170    What  Could  Germany  Do  For  Ireland? 

are  countries  smaller  in  area  and  with  fewer 
natural  resources  than  Ireland.  It  will  not  be 
disputed  that  all  of  those  countries  have  pros- 
pered exceedingly  as  manufacturing  nations 
within  recent  years,  although  Belgium  is  with- 
out iron  and  neither  Holland  nor  Switzerland 
possesses  coal ;  and  of  the  three,  Switzerland  is 
the  least  favorably  situated  for  the  development 
of  industrial  greatness,  inasmuch  as  she  has  no 
seaports. 
It  has  been  written  of  Switzerland : 

With  an  ungrateful  soil,  a  scattered  population  of 
3,000,000  souls,  a  limited  amount  of  capital,  no  sea- 
ports, no  coal,  Switzerland  has  risen  to  an  eminent 
position  among  manufacturing  nations,  and  sends 
products  worth  $150,000,000  yearly  to  France,  Eng- 
land, Germany  and  Belgium. 

Laboring  under  such  disadvantages,  why 
have  the  Swiss  progressed  as  a  manufacturing 
people?  The  answer  lies  in  the  fact  that  they 
have  turned  to  advantage,  for  manufacturing 
purposes,  the  numerous  rivers  and  waterfalls 
of  their  country.  In  1898  there  were  1,570  mills 
worked  by  water,  representing  54,000  water- 
power,  while  steam-power  used  by  factories 
represented  less  than  30,000  horsepower.    We 


Power  and  Fuel  171 

see,  therefore,  that  the  possession  of  either  coal 
or  iron,  or  both,  is  not  absolutely  essential  to 
promote  successfully  the  industrial  develop- 
ment of  a  country. 

England,  influenced  by  her  coal  interests,  has 
maintained  that  Ireland  does  not  possess  either 
coal  or  iron  in  paying  quantities.  That  Ireland 
does  possess  rich  coal  and  iron  resources,  we 
intend  proving  later  in  this  work.  What  the 
writer  is  concerned  with  just  now  is  to  examine 
Ireland's  power  resources  and  to  ascertain 
whether  she  has  that  within  herself  which  would 
justify  her  embarking  upon  an  industrial  career. 
We  have  seen  that  Switzerland  has  built  up  her 
industrial  prosperity  with  the  aid  of  her  water- 
power.  Has  Ireland  water-power  in  sufficient 
quantity  to  enable  her  to  compete  successfully 
with  those  manufacturing  nations,  such  as  Eng- 
land, where  steam-power  is  mainly  employed? 

When  in  Ireland,  nothing  so  impressed  the 
writer  as  the  vast  quantity  of  water  rushing, 
unchecked,  to  the  sea,  with  scarce  a  fraction  of 
it  employed  for  industrial  purposes.  And  yet, 
practically  all  over  the  country,  even  in  the  most 
out-of-the-way  places,  one  comes  upon  the  ruins 


172    What  Could  Germany  Do  For  Ireland? 

of  mills  which  formerly  were  worked  by  water- 
power,  showing  that  at  one  period  the  Irish 
people  utilized  the  now  neglected  water-power 
of  the  numerous  rivers. 

The  average  quantity  of  rain  that  falls  over 
the  entire  surface  of  Ireland  has  been  computed 
at  36  inches.  The  area  of  Ireland  we  know  to 
be  more  than  32,000  square  miles.  From  a  cal- 
culation of  the  area  and  the  rainfall  we  ascer- 
tain that  over  100,000,000,000  cubic  yards  of 
water  are  precipitated  on  the  island  every  year. 
All  this  mass  of  water,  however,  does  not  find 
its  way  to  the  sea.  A  large  portion  goes  back 
in  vapor  to  the  atmosphere,  and  it  may  safely 
be  assumed  that  12  inches  finally  arrive  at  the 
sea.  This,  in  its  course  to  the  sea,  becomes 
available  for  industrial  purposes,  with  a  force 
proportional  to  the  height  through  which  it 
falls.  Dealing  with  the  subject  in  his  masterly 
work  on  "The  Industrial  Resources  of  Ire- 
land, ' '  upon  which  has  been  freely  drawn  in  this 
chapter,  Sir  R.  Kane  said : 

By  calculations  founded  on  such  principles,  we  ar- 
rive at  the  conclusion  that  the  average  elevation  of 
the  surface  of  the  country  being  387  feet,  the  water 
which  flows  in  our  rivers  to  the  sea  has  an  average  fall 


Power  and  Fuel  173 

of  129  yards,  and  now  finally,  we  may  calculate  the 
total  water-power  of  Ireland.  We  had  for  the  total 
quantity  of  rain  falling  in  a  year  100,712,031,640 
cubic  yards ;  of  this,  one-third  flows  into  the  sea ;  that 
is,  33,237,343,880  cubic  yards,  weighing  68,467,100 
tons.  This  weight  falls  from  129  yards,  and  as  884 
tons  falling  twenty-four  feet  in  twenty-four  hours  is 
a  horsepower,  the  final  result  is  that  in  average  we 
possess,  distributed  over  the  surface  of  Ireland,  a 
water-power  capable  of  acting  night  and  day,  without 
interruption,  from  the  beginning  to  the  end  of  the 
year,  and  estimated  at  the  force  of  3,227  horsepower 
per  foot  of  fall,  for  the  entire  average  fall  of  387  feet, 
amounting  to  1,248,849  horsepower.  But  mechanical 
power  is  never  thus  unintermittingly  driven,  and  if 
we  reduce  this  force  to  the  year's  work  of  300  work- 
ing days,  of  twelve  hours  each,  we  find  it  to  repre- 
sent 3,038,865  horsepower;  that  is,  more  than  three 
millions  of  horsepower.  ...  It  may  be  consid- 
ered as  decisively  established  that  there  is  derivable 
from  water-power  in  Ireland,  of  which  I  have  here 
noticed  only  one  source,  an  amount  of  mechanical 
force  sufficient  for  the  development  of  our  industry 
on  the  greatest  scale. 


It  has  been  ascertained  that  it  requires  the 
drainage  of  just  ten  square  miles  of  country 
to  give  water  for  an  average  horsepower  per 
foot  of  fall,  and  on  this  basis  the  power  capable 
of  application  from  individual  rivers  may  be 
ascertained.  Mention  has  previously  been  made 
of  Ireland's  numerous  and  expansive  rivers. 
The  Shannon,  224  miles  long,  we  know  to  be  the 


174    What  Could  Germany  Do  For  Ireland? 

largest  river  in  Great  Britain  and  Ireland.  It 
is  navigable  practically  to  its  source.  Its  catch- 
ment area  is  spread  over  3,600  square  miles  of 
country.  At  its  source  it  is  only  146  feet  above 
sea  level,  falling  but  50  feet  in  150  miles  until 
it  reaches  Killaloe,  where,  in  a  space  of  15  miles, 
its  waters  present  a  difference  of  level  of  97 
feet.  Between  Killaloe  and  Limerick,  Sir  R. 
Kane  estimated  that  the  Shannon  gave  33,950 
horsepower  in  continuous  action,  day  and  night, 
throughout  the  entire  year — and  this  is  not  the 
whole  power  of  the  river.  After  considering  the 
distribution  of  the  falls  on  the  upper  and  mid- 
dle Shannon,  the  area  of  the  catchment  basin 
of  the  river  at  each  fall,  he  arrived  at  the  fol- 
lowing calculation: 

The  total  continuous  power  is,  therefore,  4,717 
horse,  which,  added  to  that  of  the  river  from  Killa- 
loe, 33,950,  gives  a  force  existing  between  Limerick 
and  Lough  Allen  of  38,667  horsepower,  supposed  in 
constant  action.  .  .  .  The  area  of  the  basin  of 
the  Shannon  above  Killaloe  is  3,613  square  miles,  and 
as  36  inches  of  rain  give  0.3  continuous  horsepower 
per  foot  of  fall  for  every  square  mile  of  basin,  the 
total  power  of  the  Shannon,  without  evaporation, 
should  be  1,084  horsepower  per  foot  of  fall.  Its  aver- 
age is  found  to  be  about  350,  and  hence  the  Shannon 
transmits  annually  to  the  sea  11.6  inches  of  water 
collected  from  its  extensive  basin,  a  result  remark- 


Power  and  Fuel  175 

ably  in  accordance  with  that  of  12  inches  (one-third 
of  the  rain)  which  I  have  taken  as  the  average  of 
Ireland. 

And  that  is  but  one  river.  The  Lee,  the 
Blackwater,  the  Suir,  the  Nore,  the  Barrow,  the 
Slaney,  the  Liffey,  the  Boyne,  the  Newry,  the 
Lagan,  the  Blackwater  (Ulster),  the  Bann,  Up- 
per and  Lower,  the  Foyle,  the  Moy,  and  the 
Corrib — to  name  only  a  few  of  the  numerous 
rivers  which  Ireland  possesses — all  contain 
water-power  ample  enough,  once  scientifically 
conserved  and  harnessed,  to  render  the  prose- 
cution of  manufacturing  industry  in  Ireland  a 
profitable  undertaking,  even  were  the  country 
not  possessed,  as  the  English  maintain,  of  abun- 
dant fuel  resources.  It  is,  of  course,  right  to 
say  that  the  vast  inequality  of  force  at  different 
seasons  is  the  most  striking  disadvantage  of 
water-power,  but  this  can  be  removed.  The 
provision  of  reservoirs  will  ensure  a  steadiness 
of  supply.  Such  work  could  be  undertaken  in 
conjunction  with  the  drainage  and  reclamation 
schemes  referred  to  elsewhere  in  this  book,  and 
with  marked  advantage  to  agriculturists,  mill 
owTners,  navigation  companies,  and  the  other  in- 


176    What  Could  Germany  Do  For  Ireland? 

terests  affected.  Water-power  is  cheaper  than 
steam-power,  wherever  it  is  available.  In  Eng- 
land this  fact  is  recognized,  for  wherever  water- 
power  of  any  force  is  available  in  that  country 
it  is  harnessed  to  industry.  The  advent  of  the 
turbine  engine,  so  largely  availed  of  in  all  parts 
of  the  world  today,  renders  the  rivers  of  Ire- 
land an  asset  of  prime  importance  for  the  crea- 
tion and  development  of  manufacturing  indus- 
try in  Ireland.  The  widespread  utilization  of 
her  water-power  for  the  production  of  electric- 
ity cannot  fail  to  have  a  direct  and  powerful 
influence  in  the  industrial  development  of  Ire- 
land. Here,  then,  apart  from  Ireland's  coal  and 
peat  resources,  is  practically  a  never  failing 
source  of  continuous  power,  and  source  of 
wealth  for  the  future  Irish  nation.  With  the 
aid  of  this  mighty  force,  with  which  nature  has 
so  prodigally  endowed  the  country,  and  utilized, 
as  it  can  be,  so  cheaply  and  so  easily  for 
mechanical  and  electrical  power,  Irish  manufac- 
tures can  compete  successfully  with  the  prod- 
ucts of  England  and  other  manufacturing  na- 
tions. 


Power  and  Fuel  111 

THE   ELECTBIC   SUPPLY   IN   GERMANY 

The  development  of  the  supply  of  electricity 
in  Germany  may  be  seen  from  the  following 
tables : 

The  number  of  electric  plants  for  general  supply ; 
that  is,  to  generate  electricity  not  only  for  individual 
need: 

1891,  about  30  plants  with  8,000  K.W.  capacity 
1895,  about  150  plants  with  40,000  K.W.  capacity 
1900,  about  600  plants  with  250,000  K.W.  capacity 
1905,  about  1,200  plants  with  650,000  K.W.  capacity 
1907,  about  1,600  plants  with  900,000  K.W.  capacity 
1909,  about  2,050  plants  with  1,200,000  K.W.  capacity 
1911,  about  2,700  plants  with  1,500,000  K.W.  capacity 
1913,  about  4,100  plants  with  2,100,000  K.W.  capacity 

"Whereas  formerly  a  central  plant  in  general 
supplied  only  one  town,  plants  have  sprung  up 
recently  which  supply  electricity  for  a  number 
of  townships  at  one  time. 

Number  of  towns  supplied  with  electricity : 

1891,  about  35  towns 
1895,  about  170  towns 
1900,  about  800  towns 
1905,  about  2,000  towns 
1907,  about  3,300  towns 
1909,  about  4,600  towns 
1911,  about  10,500  towns 
1913,  about  17,500  towns 


178    What  Could  Germany  Do  For  Ireland? 

Districts  were  supplied  containing : 

In  1896,  about  8,000,000  inhabitants 

In  1900,  about  17,000,000  inhabitants 

In  1907,  about  25,000,000  inhabitants 

In  1911,  about  40,000,000  inhabitants 

The  development  of  the  electric  supply  is 
tending  more  and  more  to  replace  the  many 
small  plants  by  a  few  large  overland  central 
plants.  Eight  hundred  and  fifty  townships  are 
supplied  by  the  central  plant  of  Groeba,  for  ex- 
ample. The  districts  which  are  supplied  by  one 
plant  are  extended  further  and  further  and  the 
plants  within  its  confines  are  shut  down  or  are 
turned  into  sub-stations.  The  tendency  is  to- 
wards a  uniform  supply  for  entire  Germany 
with  a  few  large  power  plants.  This  develop- 
ment is  therefore  very  important,  because  only 
in  this  way  is  it  possible  to  make  the  electrical 
power  cheaper  for  the  consumer ;  electricity  can 
always  be  supplied  much  more  cheaply  by  large 
power  plants  than  by  small  ones.  This  is  espe- 
cially true  when  water-power,  peat,  coal  beds 
with  not  very  high-grade  coal,  and  waste  gas 
can  be  used.  The  influence  which  this  develop- 
mment  has  had  on  the  reduction  in  the  cost  of 


Power  and  Fuel  179 

electricity  in  Germany  may  be  seen  from  the 
following  figures : 

The  average  price  at  the  K.  W.  hour  amounted  to 

LIGHT  POWER 

In  1900  1911  1900  1911 

Breslau 61.68  40.40  20.00  17.07 

Strassburg  47.20  34.98  15.50  9.65 

Stettin    49.00  36.55  32.94  17.14 

Of  the  1,530  electric  plants  existing  in  1907, 
526  used  water-power  exclusively  or  in  conjunc- 
tion with  other  power. 

COAL 

England  has  considered  her  own  interests 
solely  in  deceiving  the  world  with  the  statement 
that  Ireland's  fuel  resources  are  of  so  limited 
a  capacity  as  not  to  justify  their  commercial 
development,  and  she  holds  the  purse-strings 
that  control  the  supply  of  capital  for  Ireland, 
which  country  possesses  two  sources  of  fuel  am- 
ple enough  to  satisfy  the  requirements  of  the 
Irish  nation  for  three  hundred  years  to  come. 
No  doubt  the  large  and  constant  market  for  her 
coal  in  Ireland  has,  to  a  great  extent,  influenced 
England  in  her  policy  of  "wet-blanketing" 
coal  mining  in  Ireland  in  the  past  hundred 


180    What  Could  Germany  Do  For  Ireland? 

years.  In  his  work  on  the  fuel  and  other  re- 
sources of  Ireland,  Sir  Robert  Kane  wrote  of 
the  coal  formation  of  the  country  as  follows : 

They  (Irish  coal  districts)  are  seven  in  number; 
of  these,  one  is  in  Leinster,  two  are  in  Munster,  three 
in  Ulster,  and  one  in  Connacht.  These  districts  dif- 
fer materially  in  their  product,  according  as  they  are 
situate  to  the  north  or  to  the  south  of  Dublin.  Those 
to  the  north  yield  bituminous  or  naming  coal;  those 
to  the  south  yield  stone  coal  or  anthracite,  which 
burns  without  flame. 

In  a  report  made  to  the  International  Geo- 
logical Congress  at  Toronto  in  1913,  the  British 
Department  of  Agriculture  for  Ireland  esti- 
mated the  coal  reserves  of  Ireland  to  be  as  fol- 
lows: 

Actual  reserve 180,506,000  metric  tons 

Probable  reserve 110,840,000  metric  tons 


Making  a  total  of  291,346,000  metric  tons  of 
coal  in  reserve  in  the  whole  of  Ireland.  In  ar- 
riving at  these  figures  the  Department  's  experts 
were  careful  to  state  that  they  bad,  of  purpose, 
omitted  to  include  an  estimate  of  several  dis- 
tricts, because,  in  their  opinion,  the  coal  of  such 
tracts  was  unworkable,  or  would  not  pay  to 
work.     Furthermore,  this  report  on  Ireland's 


Power  and  Fuel  181 

coal  deposits  stated  that  it  was  possible  the  ex- 
perts who  had  compiled  it  had  underestimated 
the  quantity  of  coal  in  certain  districts,  because 
they  had  not  the  facilities  to  make  more  exten- 
sive surveys  of  such  districts.  Thus  does  this 
British  Board  in  Ireland  faithfully  serve  the  in- 
terests of  its  master,  the  British  Government, 
despite  the  fact  that  it  is  the  Irish  milch  cow 
that  has  to  provide  the  money  to  pay  the  sal- 
aries of  the  officials  and  the  general  cost  of  the 
maintenance  of  this  miscalled  " Irish' '  Depart- 
ment of  Agriculture. 

As  against  these  figures,  admittedly  inade- 
quate, of  this  British  Departmental  Board,  it 
is  interesting  to  submit  the  estimate  of  Ire- 
land's coal  deposits  made  by  Professor  Hull  in 
1881,  who  estimated  the  net  tonnage  (actual  re- 
serve) available  for  use  in  the  Irish  coal  fields 
at  209,000,000  tons  of  coal,  in  which  estimate  Sir 
E.  Kane  concurred.  And  we  know  that  the  out- 
put of  coal  from  Irish  mines  has  very  consider- 
ably decreased  in  the  past  half-century.  And 
let  me  submit  this  extract,  taken  from  a  state- 
ment issued  in  September,  1915,  to  show  how 
faulty,  in  the  case  of  at  least  one  coal  region  in 


182    What  Could  Germany  Do  For  Ireland? 

Ireland,  the  official  estimate  has  been  proven 
to  be.  The  following  is  taken  from  a  statement 
issued  by  the  Wolfhill  Colliery,  Co.,  Athy, 
which  Mr.  Parkinson  is  very  patriotically  mak- 
ing a  practical  endeavor  to  develop  against 
mighty  odds: 

It  appears  that  the  Irish  Department  of  Agricul- 
ture, in  a  report  to  the  International  Geological  Con- 
gress at  Ottawa,  in  1913,  estimated  the  coal  reserves 
in  the  Leinster  coal  field  at  152,920,000  tons,  whilst 
Mr.  A.  McHenry,  Geological  Expert,  put  the  reserves 
at  219,000,000  tons.  This  calculation  was  made  some 
years  ago,  and  it  is  worth  mentioning  that  within  the 
last  three  months  Mr.  T.  Hallissey,  Geological  Expert 
to  the  Department  of  Agriculture,  has  discovered  by 
actual  investigation  that  the  coal  field  extends  one  and 
a  half  miles  in  a  northwesterly  direction  beyond  the 
line  where  heretofore  it  was  believed  the  coal  termi- 
nated, so  that  it  is  not  unreasonable  to  assume  that, 
therefore,  there  is  considerably  more  coal  in  the  dis- 
trict than  even  the  experts  know  about. 

Here  we  have  it  stated  that  one  district  alone 
contains  practically  a  greater  reserve  of  coal 
than  that  given  as  the  actual  reserve  of  coal  for 
all  Ireland  by  the  British  authorities.  The 
writer  has  not  at  his  disposal  further  material 
to  disprove  the  fallacious  figures  given  by  the 
English  officials  of  Ireland  's  coal  deposits,  since 
no  scientific  survey  of  Ireland  has  been  made, 


Power  and  Fuel  183 

such  as  has  been  made  in  all  progressive  coun- 
tries the  world  over.  One  of  the  earliest  duties 
of  an  Irish  Government  must  be  to  initiate  and 
conduct  a  thorough,  scientific  survey  of  the 
whole  island  to  ascertain  with  accuracy  and 
definiteness  the  available  wealth  that  lies  em- 
bedded in  the  soil,  the  bogs,  the  rivers  and  the 
mountains  of  Ireland.  Such  a  survey  will 
demonstrate  that  Ireland's  mineral  wealth  com- 
pares more  than  favorably  with  that  of  other 
countries  of  similar  area  in  Europe,  and  that,  in 
point  of  fact,  her  natural  resources  surpass 
those  of  many  countries  that  today  enjoy  the 
blessings  of  domestic  and  political  liberty. 

The  output  of  coal  in  Ireland  in  1911  was 
scarcely  84,000  tons,  valued  at  less  than  $250,- 
000,  and  the  number  of  men  employed  was 
only  790. 

As  to  the  possibilities  of  development, 
granted  certain  necessary  conditions  and  facil- 
ities, I  shall  only  deal  now  with  the  most  largely 
worked  mines  in  modern  Ireland. 

The  Wolf  hill  Colliery,  in  Queen's  County,  is 
about  ten  miles  from  Athy,  the  nearest  railway 
station,  and  covers  in  Kilkenny  and  Queen's 


184    What  Could  Germany  Do  For  Ireland? 

County  close  on  20,000  statute  acres.  The  Great 
Southern  and  Western  Railway  would  not  con- 
nect the  mines  with  Athy  by  a  spur  line,  and  so 
it  costs  over  a  dollar  per  ton  to  cart  the  coal  to 
the  railway  station  at  Athy.  This  constitutes  a 
heavy  handicap  on  the  project,  especially  when 
it  has  to  compete  with  coal  brought  from  Great 
Britain  at  cheap  through  rates.  Furthermore, 
to  rail  the  coal  from  Athy  to  Dublin  costs  al- 
most $3.00  per  ton,  while  in  most  other  countries 
the  transit  charge  over  a  like  distance  would 
be  about  half  this  figure.  The  chief  difficulty 
that  this  company  labors  under,  then,  is  lack  of 
proper  transit  facilities.  To  build  a  line  of  rail- 
way from  the  pit's  mouth  to  Athy  will  necessi- 
tate an  expenditure  of  close  on  $250,000,  and  at 
this  figure  would  prove  a  profitable  undertak- 
ing. The  present  output  of  50  tons  per  day 
would  be  quadrupled  in  a  short  time,  and  in  less 
than  three  years  the  output  could  be  brought  to 
1,000  tons  daily.  The  construction  of  this  line 
of  railway  would  encourage  the  investing  of 
capital  on  the  building  of  miners '  cottages,  so 
that  skilled  labor  could  be  brought  into  the  dis- 
trict, and  would  mean  a  saving  to  the  company 


Power  and  Fuel  185 

of  at  least  one  dollar  per  ton  in  cartage  and 
freight  charges.  Besides,  it  must  be  remem- 
bered that  every  ton  of  coal  raised  in  Ireland 
means  Ireland  richer  by  at  least  $5.00.  After 
the  construction  of  the  line  of  railway  there 
would  be  likely  to  spring  up  in  the  district  the 
manufacture  of  bricks  of  various  kinds  from 
the  different  clays  found  in  the  mines  and  the 
manufacture  of  carbide  of  calcium  and  of  port- 
land  cement.  Calcium  cyanide,  a  fertilizer 
equal  to  nitrate  of  soda,  could  also  be  produced, 
and  nitric  acid  likewise  could  be  manufactured 
for  smokeless  powder  and  explosives  generally. 

Wolfhill  coal  is  a  sound  commercial  product 
and  the  reserves  are  large.  It  only  requires  ef- 
ficient transit  facilities  to  promote  its  develop- 
ment and  to  create  additional  industries,  all  of 
a  paying  character,  in  the  district. 

A  line  of  railway  connecting  Mr.  Prior  Wan- 
desford's  collieries  at  Castlecomer  with  the 
Maryborough-Waterford  branch  of  the  Great 
Southern  &  Western  Railway  would  open  up 
this  whole  district  and  be  the  means  of  develop- 
ing these  important  mines  for  the  good  of  the 
whole  community.    The  same  story  may  be  re- 


186    What  Could  Germany  Do  For  Ireland? 

lated  of  the  valuable  Arigna  coal  and  iron  dis- 
trict, which,  under  a  paternal  government,  will 
in  the  future  become  the  heart  of  industrial  Ire- 
land. A  line  starting  at  Collooney  in  Sligo  and 
running  up  through  the  Arigna  Valley  for  a  dis- 
tance of  some  four  miles  would  greatly  facili- 
tate the  marketing  on  competitive  lines  of  the 
immense  mineral  wealth  of  this  district.  The 
project  to  connect  the  mountains  of  coal  in 
North  Eoscommon,  at  the  junction  of  Sligo  and 
Leitrim  Counties,  with  railway  facilities  has 
been  under  discussion  for  very  many  years,  but 
has  never  been  brought  to  a  head.  Only  in  Oc- 
tober last  a  paragraph  appeared  in  an  Irish 
paper  stating  that  it  was  feared  the  directors  of 
the  Arigna  Coal  Mines  would  be  compelled  to 
close  down  the  work  owing  to  the  absence  of 
such  facilities.  But  enough  has  been  stated  to 
show  the  disabilities  under  which  coal  mining 
in  Ireland  is  conducted.  To  get  permission  to 
construct  a  line  of  railway  in  Ireland,  it  is  neces- 
sary to  get  a  bill  through  the  House  of  Com- 
mons in  England,  and  subsequently  through  the 
House  of  Lords.  Both  legislatures  largely  rep- 
resent the  coal  owners  of  Great  Britain,  and  it 


Power  and  Fuel  187, 

is  not  to  the  interest  of  these  people  to  facili- 
tate coal  production  in  Ireland,  as  thereby  the 
market  for  English  coal  in  Ireland  would  be- 
come less  valuable  every  year.  The  coal  mines 
of  Ireland  must  receive  early  attention  from  a 
truly  Irish  government,  so  that  their  value  to 
the  nation  may  be  forthcoming,  both  as  a  source 
of  wealth,  a  source  of  power  and  a  source  of 
large  and  remunerative  employment  for  the 
people  of  Ireland. 

Ireland's  remaining  fuel  resource,  peat,  we 
will  consider  in  the  succeeding  chapter. 


CHAPTER  XII 

THE  PEAT  KESOUKCES  OF  IEELAND 

The  late  Sir  Richard  Sankey,  when  president 
of  the  Irish  Board  of  Works,  said : 

The  bogs  are  the  true  gold  mines  of  Ireland,  and 
(properly  used)  will  enable  her  to  compete  with  Eng- 
land and  Scotland  in  every  form  of  industry. 

A  brother  officer  of  his,  Colonel  F.  T.  War- 
burton,  than  whom  no  other  living  Irishman  has 
done  more  to  promote  the  development  of  the 
peat  resources  of  Ireland,  writes:  "All  efforts 
after  industrial  development  in  Ireland  will  be 
in  vain  if  they  are  not  based  on  peat,  the  one 
means  nature  has  accorded  for  their  resurrec- 
tion." 

Writing  in  1855,  Anthony  Marmion,  dealing 
with  the  resources  of  Ireland,  stated  that: 

Independent  of  the  coal  mines,  Ireland  possesses 
two  other  sources  of  fuel — turf,  or  peat,  and  lignite, 
an  intermediate  species  between  wood  and  coal.  The 
total  area  of  the  turf  bogs  of  Ireland  is  estimated  at 
2,830,000  acres,  something  more  than  one-eighth  of  the 
entire  area  of  the  island.  Of  these,  1,576,000  acres 
are  flat  bog,  and  1,254,000  acres  are  mountain  bog, 
scattered  over  the  hilly  districts  near  the  coast.    The 

188 


The  Peat  Resources  of  Ireland        189 

turf  bogs,  so  long  neglected,  are  now  undergoing  ex- 
periments which,  if  successful,  will  render  them  as 
valuable  as  the  mines  of  California  or  Australia. 

At  an  earlier  period,  Sir  E.  Kane,  in  his  book 
published  in  1844,  surveying  the  forces  of  eco- 
nomic greatness  in  Ireland,  wrote : 

The  last  of  our  sources  of  fuel  that  I  shall  proceed 
to  describe  is  of  comparatively  modern  formation,  and 
is  considered  most  specially  characteristic  of  this 
island;  it  is  our  turf.  Our  bogs  may  become,  under 
the  influence  of  an  enlightened  energy,  sources  of  in- 
dustry eminently  productive.  It  is  a  fuel  of  excellent 
nature.  We  see  it,  in  ordinary  use,  spoiled  by  its 
mode  of  preparation.  It  is  here  my  duty  to  point 
out  how  it  can  be  properly  prepared,  and  economi- 
cally used.  Its  importance  to  Ireland  will,  I  trust, 
justify  me  in  entering  into  some  detail  as  to  its  na- 
ture, its  composition,  and  its  preparation.  The  ex- 
cessive moisture  of  this  climate,  and  the  tendency  to 
the  growth  of  certain  mosses,  are  the  primary  causes 
of  bogs.  When  ignited,  the  turf  gives  off  inflammable 
gas,  much  water,  and  leaves  a  light,  easily  combustible 
charcoal.  Turf  contains  much  less  nitrogen  than  coal. 
Hence  the  liquor  obtained  in  distilling  turf  contains 
no  free  ammonia.  The  calorific  power  of  dry  turf  is 
about  half  that  of  coal.  The  employment  of  turf  as 
a  source  of  heat  in  industry  is  extending.  There  is 
in  our  bogs  amassed  a  quantity  of  turf,  which,  if  the 
peculiar  characters  of  that  fuel  be  suitably  attended 
to,  may  become  of  eminent  importance  to  the  country. 

Turning  to  an  official  publication  issued  in 
1902  by  the  Department  of  Agriculture  for  Ire- 


190    What  Could  Germany  Do  For  Ireland? 

land,   and   entitled   "Ireland:   Industrial   and 

Agricultural, ' '  the  only  reference  to  this  source 

of  wealth  located  in  this  work  of  more  than  500 

pages  is  the  following  cryptic  sentence: 

The  many  schemes  for  utilizing  peat  as  fuel  on  a 
commercial  scale  have  not  met  with  much  success, 
confronted  as  they  are  by  the  nearness  of  the  coal 
fields  across  the  narrow  channel  on  the  east. 

The  vast  peat  resources  of  the  country, 
constituting  almost  a  seventh  part  of  the  entire 
area  of  the  island,  are  dismissed  with  that  sin- 
gle sentence  by  this  miscalled  " Irish' '  Depart- 
ment of  Agriculture. 

They  want  no  future  for  Irish  peat,  owing  to 
the  fact  that  England  possesses  coal.  And  yet, 
as  Colonel  Warburton,  alive  to  the  hostility  of 
English  officials  towards  Irish  industrial  en- 
deavors, writes: 

Denmark,  Sweden,  Norway,  Germany,  Russia,  Hol- 
land, parts  of  Austria,  and  Canada  have  made  a  per- 
fect success  of  peat  fuel  in  competition  with  coal  for 
the  purposes  of  manufacture  and  ordinary  household 
consumption,  through  the  employment  of  a  new 
method,  dating  from  the  beginning  of  the  century, 
under  conditions  far  less  favorable  than  those  which 
exist  in  Ireland,  where  the  method  has  not  been  tried, 
partly  because  of  the  want  of  knowledge  on  the  sub- 
ject by  the  Irish  people ;  partly  because  of  their  pov- 
erty; partly  because  of  their  having  witnessed  the 


The  Peat  Resources  of  Ireland       191 

total  failure  of  antecedent  methods,  their  consequent 
disbelief  in  peat  fuel,  but  principally  because  of  the 
suppressive  measures  adopted  by  the  British  Govern- 
ment, and  that  part  of  it  called  "The  Department  of 
Agriculture  for  Ireland,"  which  has,  in  the  interests 
of  British  coal  proprietors  and  British  industrialists, 
to  suppress  Irish  industries  competing  with  their  own, 
sometimes  by  statute,  and  in  latter  days  by  taxation 
and  underhand  means. 


In  Germany,  we  know,  the  peat  resources  of 
the  country  have  been  wonderfully  developed. 
Gases  generated  from  peat  and  lignite  are  dis- 
tributed through  local  stations  to  manufactur- 
ing plants  and  transportation  systems.  One  of 
the  by-products  obtained  is  ammonia.  In  the 
extensive  moors  of  Germany  the  utilization  of 
peat  for  these  purposes  has  opened  up  a  source 
of  power  of  great  extent,  and  largely  as  a  direct 
consequence  of  these  developments,  great 
stretches  of  formerly  worthless  lands  have  be- 
come valuable  cultivated  soil.  Even  Russia, 
prior  to  the  outbreak  of  war,  had  begun  to  de- 
velop along  scientific  lines  the  vast  peat  deposits 
of  her  empire. 

Peat  authorities  have  shown  that  Continental 
peat  competes  with  soft  coal  at  $4.00  and  $4.50 
per  ton.    Imported  bituminous  coal  in  the  in- 


192    What  Could  Germany  Do  For  Ireland? 

land  parts  of  Ireland  invariably  retails  at  from 
$7.00  to  $8.00  per  ton.  Since  the  war,  coal  in 
the  interior  brings  $10.00  and  upwards  per  ton. 
But  we  must  calculate  on  the  normal  prices.  At 
Irish  seaports,  in  normal  periods,  imported  soft 
coal  sells  at  $6.00  per  ton.  On  the  Continent,  as 
is  well  known,  the  greatest  enemy  of  peat  fuel 
manufacture  is  frost.  There  the  manufacture 
of  peat  fuel  is  limited  to  the  months  of  June, 
July  and  August.  For  practically  the  remain- 
ing months  of  the  year  the  bogs  cannot  be 
worked  as,  usually,  they  are  frozen  deep  and 
cannot  be  cut  until  they  thaw.  Frost  disinte- 
grates the  peat,  whether  raw  or  shaped.  Eain, 
on  the  other  hand,  once  the  bricks  are  formed 
and  laid  on  the  drying  ground,  closes  up  the 
outside  pores.  When  fine  weather  returns  the 
rains  run  off  the  bricks  and  their  natural  and 
inexpensive  process  of  moisture  exudation,  tem- 
porarily arrested,  is  resumed.  There  is  little 
or  no  frost  experienced  in  the  Irish  climate.  In 
the  past  eighty  years,  authorities  state,  there 
have  been  only  four  years  in  which  the  manufac- 
ture of  peat  fuel  would  have  been  retarded  by 
frost.    And  the  rainfall  in  Ireland  is  no  greater 


The  Peat  Resources  of  Ireland        193 

than  that  of  England.  In  some  parts  it  is  con- 
siderably lower  than  England's  average. 

Elsewhere  in  this  book  I  have  quoted  the  of- 
ficial returns  for  wages  paid  to  rural  workers 
in  Ireland.  Nowhere  are  they  more  than  $4.00 
weekly ;  indeed,  they  are  in  some  districts  as  low 
as  $2.50.  The  wages  paid  on  the  Continent  and 
in  Canada  to  rural  workers  are  considerably 
higher  than  this,  so  the  manufacture  of  peat 
fuel  in  Ireland  would  have  an  initial  advantage 
over  other  countries  carrying  on  the  industry. 
Of  course,  in  time,  wages  in  Ireland  will  in- 
crease; indeed,  they  must  do  so  speedily  if  the 
country  is  to  retain  sufficient  agricultural  labor 
for  its  growing  needs. 

Manufacturers  in  the  north  of  Ireland  com- 
plain that  because  of  the  high  price  they  have  to 
pay  for  imported  coal,  they  cannot  pay  the  Eng- 
lish rate  of  wages. 

As  the  higher  level  seams  become  exhausted 
in  England,  coal  is  certain  to  advance  in  price. 
Labor  in  the  open  fields,  making  peat,  is  far 
more  effective  than  coal-mining  labor,  with 
which  it  must  be  compared.  Peat  being  at  the 
surface,  there  will  be  no  increase  in  price  from 


194    What  Could  Germany  Do  For  Ireland? 

that  cause.  Besides,  the  labor  required  for 
turning  and  piling  the  bricks  is  of  so  slight  a 
character  that  women  and  youths  can  be  re- 
muneratively employed.  A  family  so  employed 
would  live  in  what  they  would  call  a  state  of 
affluence,  as  compared  with  their  present  often 
wretched  condition.  There  would  be  no  need  to 
centralize  labor,  with  its  attendant  evils.  Every 
bog  in  the  lowlands  would  become  a  source  of 
employment,  small  plants  being  provided,  suit- 
table  to  the  local  consumption,  etc.  Peat  suffers 
from  the  disadvantage  that  it  is  slightly  bulkier 
than  coal  and,  consequently,  increases  the  cost 
of  freight  and  space  required  for  storage.  Ire- 
land is  favorably  situated  for  water  delivery. 
The  Eiver  Shannon  divides  it  from  Boyle  to 
Limerick,  and  the  Grand  Canal  from  Limerick 
to  Dublin,  and  again,  from  Dublin  to  Water- 
ford,  via  Athy  and  the  Barrow  navigation. 

As  against  coal,  however,  peat  loses  far  less 
through  wastage  or  handling  than  bituminous 
coal,  so  largely  used  in  Ireland.  Peat  fuel  im- 
proves by  keeping,  whilst  coal  deteriorates;  it 
is  free  from  sulphur  and  is  superior  to  coal  for 
the  manufacture  of  iron  and  for  smelting  pur- 


The  Peat  Resources  of  Ireland        195 

poses.  Peat  is  far  more  sanitary  than  coal,  is 
easier  handled,  is  cleaner  in  use,  gives  off  no 
dust,  and,  what  is  of  far  more  importance  to 
Ireland,  is  cheaper  by  nearly  one-half  than  coal 
imported  from  either  England  or  Scotland. 
Cheap  fuel  is  indispensable  for  manufacturing 
purposes,  and  if  Ireland  is  to  revive  success- 
fully her  industries  destroyed  by  British  laws, 
her  factories  must  have  cheap  coal.  Peat  fuel, 
taken  from  the  bogs  of  Ireland,  will  satisfy 
their  requirements  in  all  respects.  Practically 
all  of  industrial  England,  Wales  and  Scotland 
surround  the  coal  fields  of  these  countries. 
Cheapness  of  fuel  at  the  pit's  mouth  has  caused 
congestion  in  those  centers.  Ireland's  bogs  are 
located  in  every  county  in  Ireland,  and  conse- 
quently the  same  reason  for  the  congestion  of 
industries  in  any  one  district  will  not  arise. 
Ireland,  with  her  manufacturers  working  apace, 
will  thus  be  enabled  to  enjoy  widespread  pros- 
perity, and  at  the  same  time  her  workers  will  be 
enabled  to  live  in  healthy,  natural  surroundings 
and  to  raise  up  their  children  near  to  nature 
and  close  to  God. 

The  River  Shannon  possesses  superior  ad- 


196    What  Could  Germany  Do  For  Ireland? 

vantages  for  the  erection  of  peat  fuel  manufac- 
tories along  its  banks.  Some  fourteen  towns, 
with  a  combined  population  of  100,000  souls, 
can  be  reached  by  means  of  its  navigation,  and 
the  Grand  Canal  to  Dublin,  with  its  250,000 
people,  also  can  be  reached.  And  water  car- 
riage is  far  cheaper  than  other  forms  of  trans- 
portation. 

We  know  that  Ireland  annually  pays  over  to 
England  a  sum  of  approximately  $17,000,000 
for  her  coal  and  coke  requirements.  Her  coal 
mines  and  bogs  are  severely  neglected,  so  that 
English  coal  owners  may  hold  their  grip  on  this 
constant  and  remunerative  coal  market.  The 
successful  working  of  Ireland's  coal  and  peat 
will  result  in  saving  these  millions  of  dollars 
and  will  provide  for  her  people  steady  employ- 
ment in  their  own  land,  and  thus  save  the  rem- 
nants of  the  race  from  emigrating. 

In  a  scheme  prepared  by  Colonel  Warburton 
for  the  erection  of  a  peat  fuel  manufactory  near 
the  Shannon,  he  states  that ' '  peat  fuel  equal  in 
caloric  value  to  coal  can  be  sold  at  a  profit  of 
$1.00  a  ton  at  the  rate  of  $4.00  a  ton  of  4,000 
pounds,  the  increased  weight  on  2,240  pounds 


The  Peat  Resources  of  Ireland        197 

being  necessitated  by  the  lesser  specific  gravity 
of  the  fuel,  just  as  soft  coal  ordinarily  used  in 
English  manufactures  necessitates  greater 
weight  than  anthracite  coal.,,  He  estimates 
that  $25,000  is  required  to  equip  a  plant  for  the 
annual  production  of  10,000  tons  of  4,000 
pounds,  selling  at  $4.00  a  ton.  This  would  en- 
able the  company  easily  to  pay  20  per  cent,  on 
capital  invested.  With  the  employment  of  a 
larger  capital  than  the  amount  mentioned  in 
Colonel  Warburton's  plan,  it  is  certain  that 
many  economies  could  be  effected,  such  as 
cheapening  the  cost  of  machinery  and  savings 
on  materials  purchased  in  large  quantities. 

Other  purposes  to  which  Ireland's  peat  may 
be  applied  are  the  production  of  electricity  and 
of  gas,  the  manufacture  of  paper,  peat-moss  lit- 
ter, which  is  largely  imported  into  Ireland  from 
the  Continent,  oil,  and  a  variety  of  other  indus- 
trial purposes.  Germany  can  teach  Ireland  a 
great  deal  as  to  the  proper  utilization  of  her 
peat  resources,  which,  in  Sir  R.  Sankey's  words, 
* '  are  the  true  gold  mines  of  Ireland. ' '  In  water- 
power  and  in  coal  and  peat  fuel  Ireland  pos- 
sesses sources  of  natural  wealth  which,  if  prop- 


198    What  Could  Germany  Do  For  Ireland? 

erly  applied,  cannot  fail  to  place  her  in  the  fore- 
most ranks  of  the  manufacturing  nations  of  the 
world  of  today.  The  sub-soil,  after  the  cutting 
of  the  peat,  could  be  cultivated. 

It  will  be  interesting  to  see  how  Germany  has 
dealt  with  this  problem. 

Modern  chemical  science  has  been  extensively 
applied  by  Germany  to  the  development  of  her 
moorlands.  By  means  of  the  Rimpan-Cunran 
system  the  productivity  of  the  cultivated  moor- 
lands has  been  increased  to  such  an  extent  that 
its  profitableness  is  assured.  The  Society  for 
the  Furtherance  of  the  Cultivation  of  the  Moor- 
lands of  the  German  Empire  has  performed 
efficient  service  during  the  past  two  decades  and 
has  endowed  scholarships  for  the  study  of  the 
cultivation  of  the  moors.  The  Central  Moor- 
land Commission  of  Prussia  has  worked  out  the 
problems  submitted  to  it  by  the  Ministry  of 
Agriculture.  This  Commission  founded  the 
Moor  Experiment  Station  in  Bremen,  the  func- 
tion of  which  is  to  promote  the  science  and  the 
technique  of  the  cultivation  of  the  moorlands  in 
all  directions  by  means  of  chemical,  physical 
and  botanical  investigations.    There  have  been 


The  Peat  Resources  of  Ireland        199 

numerous  commissions  appointed  at  enormous 
public  expense  to  consider  the  Irish  peat  prob- 
lem, but  nothing  practical  has  so  far  resulted 
to  the  country. 

At  the  end  of  November,  1914,  an  ordinance 
was  issued  in  Prussia  which  provides  for  the 
formation  of  compulsory  associations  that  are 
to  be  established  for  the  cultivation  and  utiliza- 
tion of  moors,  heaths,  and  similar  regions  un- 
der their  owners.  These  regions  are  to  be  trans- 
formed into  fields,  meadows,  and  pastures,  and 
cultivated  according  to  a  uniform  plan  by 
means  of  drainage  and  the  building  of  neces- 
sary roads  and  ditches. 

The  Kaiser  has  on  all  occasions  personally 
identified  himself  with  efforts  to  turn  the  moors 
of  Germany  into  sources  of  strength  and  nour- 
ishment for  the  empire.  On  the  Prussian  State 
Model  Farm  at  Wiesmoor  in  Aurich,  an  electric 
plant  has  been  installed,  in  which  the  peat 
burned  under  the  boilers  gave  the  power  for 
running  the  dynamo  machines.  In  1914  the 
maximum  achievement  of  this  plant  amounted 
to  6,000  horsepower.  It  supplied  a  large  part 
of  the  surrounding  country  with  electricity,  and 


200    What  Could  Germany  Do  For  Ireland? 

when  completed,  will  supply  entire  East  Fries- 
land  and  the  Grand  Duchy  of  Oldenburg  (a  ter- 
ritory of  3,700  square  miles)  with  light  and 
power.  Also,  the  electric  power  so  derived  is 
used  at  the  same  time  for  the  cultivation  of  the 
moors  themselves,  for  peat-cutting  machines, 
plows,  etc.,  are  all  driven  by  electricity  and  the 
expensive  human  labor  is  thus  relieved  for  other 
purposes.  It  has  been  clearly  demonstrated 
that  the  peat  layers  can  be  used  to  great  advan- 
tage for  the  generation  of  electric  power.  Tech- 
nical improvement  of  the  plant  has  made  it  pos- 
sible to  reduce  the  consumption  of  peat  to  two 
kilograms  per  kilowatt  hour  (one  kilogram  is 
equal  to  220  pounds). 

The  German  scientist  Mond  has  succeeded  in 
gasifying  peat  containing  over  60  per  cent,  of 
water  in  generator  furnaces,  and  at  the  same 
time  produced  substances  such  as  sulphate  of 
ammonia,  important  for  both  industry  and  agri- 
culture. The  gas  produced  is  used  for  driving 
highly  efficient  gas  motors,  which,  for  their  part, 
set  electric  dynamos  in  action.  The  profitable- 
ness of  such  a  plant  is  assured  by  the  produc- 
tion of  quantities  of  sulphate  of  ammonia. 


CHAPTER  XIII 

THE  IRISH  FISHERIES 

In  the  five  years,  1909-1913,  Ireland  purchased 
from  England  fish  (fresh,  cured  and  shell)  to 
the  estimated  value  of  more  than  $8,000,000. 
We  may  be  asked  what  is  remarkable  in  that 
fact.  Let  us  glance  at  a  map  of  Europe  and 
inquire  why,  situated  an  island,  in  celebrated 
fishing  waters,  Ireland  should  have  any  neces- 
sity for  procuring  her  fish  supplies  from  Eng- 
land or  any  other  country,  instead  of  from  the 
hidden  depths  of  the  mighty  Atlantic  that  foams 
round  her  shores.  Why  must  this  natural  home 
of  fisheries  enrich  England  every  year  by  some 
$1,600,000  paid  for  fish  food  for  the  Irish 
people,  to  the  utter  neglect  of  her  own  fishing 
resources  ?  We  have  been  told  that  her  sons  are 
not  hardy  sailors.  How  could  these  island 
people  avoid  seafaring?  The  people  are  cut  ofT 
by  an  expanse  of  water  from  all  contact  with 
outside  countries.  Ireland  is  not  only  a  mari- 
time country,  but,  by  virtue  of  necessity,  her 

201 


202    What  Could  Germany  Do  For  Ireland? 

people  are  possessed  of  all  the  instincts  and 
attributes  of  a  people  born  and  bred  within 
sound  of  the  waves  washing  their  sea-girt 
homes.  Replying,  in  1883,  to  an  argument  based 
on  this  fallacy,  the  then  President  of  the  Uni- 
versity at  Cork  (the  late  Professor  W.  K.  Sul- 
livan) wrote: 

The  Irish  are  naturally  sailors.  Among  the  best 
fishermen  of  the  United  Kingdom  are  three  essentially 
Celtic  peoples — the  Cornishmen,  the  Manxmen  (who 
still  speak  an  Irish  dialect),  and  the  Gaelic-speaking 
fishers  of  Argyle  and  the  Hebrides.  The  Bretons,  the 
most  daring  and  enterprising  fishermen  in  Europe, 
are  Celts,  and  their  descendants  in  Newfoundland, 
and  those  Irish  who  emigrated  there,  are  among  the 
hardiest  fishermen  in  America. 

We  point  to  the  British  navy,  where  in  every 
rank  up  to  that  of  Admiral,  Irish-born  men  have 
at  all  periods  asserted  and  established  beyond 
question  their  superiority  as  sailors.  Those 
who  would  wish  to  learn  something  more  about 
the  Irish  as  sailors  can  read  the  history  of  the 
United  States  Navy,  from  its  father,  Commo- 
dore John  Barry,  down  to  Admiral  Mahan,  who 
died  only  a  few  years  ago  and  who  was  classed 
as  the  most  gifted  naval  strategist  of  his  time. 

It  may  be  urged  that  the  Irish  waters  have 


The  Irish  Fisheries  203 

not  fish  in  abundance  to  justify  the  carrying  on 
of  a  fishing  industry  in  Ireland.  Later  in  this 
chapter  I  hope  to  indicate  the  great  wealth  that 
lies  hidden  in  the  Irish  deep-sea  and  inland  fish- 
eries. Just  here,  and  by  way  of  reply  to  the 
question  raised,  I  need  only  point  to  the  fact 
that  great  fleets  of  fishers  come  year  after  year 
to  Irish  waters  from  Scotland,  the  Isle  of  Man, 
Wales,  England,  Brittany  and  Denmark,  gar- 
nering the  rich  harvests  of  the  Irish  waters  for 
the  enrichment  and  nourishment  of  their  respec- 
tive peoples,  and  to  the  further  impoverishment 
of  the  fast  dying  Irish  fishing  industry.  Also, 
the  great  seaports  on  the  west  coast  of  England 
are  mainly  dependent  for  the  fish  landed  on 
their  wharves  from  the  harvests  of  the  Irish 
seas. 

There  must  be  a  cause,  however,  it  will  be 
urged,  and  there  is.  The  principal  cause  of  all 
Irish  industrial  ills  and  the  present  decay  in  all 
branches  of  human  endeavor  within  Ireland,  is 
British  Rule  in  Ireland.  It  is  a  fixed,  immov- 
able principle  of  the  English  direction  of  Irish 
affairs  that  the  country  should  not  be  permitted 
to  become  a  formidable  competitor  of  England. 


204    What  Could  Germany  Do  For  Ireland? 

This  has  ever  been  the  attitude  of  the  conqueror 
towards  the  conquered.  History  holds  no  rec- 
ord of  a  subject  race  prospering  exceedingly 
under  foreign  domination.  England's  view  is 
that  so  long  as  Ireland  exists  she  must  hold  her 
in  subjection,  to  enable  her  to  retain  and  main- 
tain her  supremacy  of  the  seas.  A  truly  pros- 
perous Ireland  could  not  for  long  be  held  in 
subjection;  she  would  soon  assert  her  right  to 
direct  her  own  affairs,  internal  and  external, 
and,  as  all  who  have  given  some  thought  to 
naval  affairs  know,  this  for  England  would  in- 
evitably mean  the  passing  of  the  Trident  out  of 
Britannia's  hands  for  all  time. 

That  Ireland  at  one  time  enjoyed  an  exten- 
sively conducted  fishing  industry  is  a  matter  of 
history,  amply  borne  out  by  the  trade  records 
of  Ireland,  down  to  the  amalgamation  of  the 
customs  of  both  countries,  a  century  back. 
There  is  no  country  in  Europe  so  admirably 
situated  for  the  successful  conduct  of  an  exten- 
sive fishing  industry  as  Ireland.  She  is  located 
in  the  center  of  the  richest  fishing  territory  in 
Europe,  has  numerous  natural  harbors,  up- 
wards of  100  rivers  and  numerous  lakes,  all  f re- 


The  Irish  Fisheries  205 

quented  by  salmon  and  other  fresh-water  fish, 
and,  furthermore,  is  within  easy  reach  of  some 
of  the  best  fish  markets  in  the  world.  Writing 
in  1855  of  the  west-coast  fisheries  of  Ireland, 
Anthony  Marmion,  in  his  work  on  ' '  The  History 
of  the  Maritime  Ports  of  Ireland,"  said: 

From  Cape  Clear  in  the  south  to  Malinhead  in  the 
northwest,  the  coast  is  studded  with  numerous  banks 
.  .  .  abounding  with  fish  of  the  most  valuable  de- 
scription, such  as  ling,  cod  (equal  to  those  of  the 
North  Sea),  haddock  weighing  from  15  to  30  pounds, 
etc.  The  sea  along  the  coast  is  often  speckled  with 
marine  animals  of  a  larger  size,  such  as  the  Green- 
land and  spermaceti  whale,*  the  sun-fish,  etc.,  pro- 
ducing oil  of  the  most  valuable  description. 

Here,  then,  is  a  field  open  for  the  employment  of 
100,000  Irishmen,  whose  operations  would  give  sus- 
tenance to  millions  of  people.  This  coast  was  the 
principal  fishing  ground  of  the  Dutch  in  the  palmy 
days  of  their  naval  superiority,  when  their  Admiral 
Van  Tromp,  with  a  broom  at  his  masthead,  contemp- 
tuously swept  the  seas  for  a  considerable  time  with- 
out molestation.  Those  enterprising  navigators,  in 
1615,  had  2,000  fishing  vessels  with  37,000  men,  and 
the  produce  of  their  fishing  for  one  year  previous 
thereto  amounted  to  close  on  $10,000,000.    (Note,  this 

♦It  is  interesting  to  know  that  two  whaling  stations  are 
working  at  Inishkea  and  Blacksod  on  the  west  coast  of  Ire- 
land, two  whalers  working  from  each  station,  In  1913  the 
number  of  whales  landed  at  Inishkea  was  49,  and  at  Blacksod 
station  65.  The  whales  caught  included  Sperm,  Fin,  Blue 
and  Hampback  varieties.  The  total  production  of  oil  was 
3,900  barrels  and  of  whale  bone  about  4  tons  and  175  bags, 
and  in  addition  a  large  quantity  of  manure.  Close  on  70 
hands  were  employed  at  the  two  factories. 


206    What  Could  Germany  Do  For  Ireland? 

amount  would  be  equal  to  from  40  to  50  million  dol- 
lars today.)  In  1618  they  increased  to  3,000  vessels 
and  50,000  men,  with  9,000  vessels  to  transport  the  fish 
to  various  countries,  and  computing  those  occupied 
in  the  curing  and  sale  of  the  fish,  it  must  have  given 
employment  to  150,000  persons,  and  was  the  great 
nursery  for  producing  skilful  and  experienced  sea- 
men to  man  their  navy.  Although  Blake's  victories 
tended  to  destroy  their  fishing  on  the  Irish  coast,  Eng- 
land did  not  profit  by  the  lessons  of  the  Dutch,  and 
with  Ireland  for  centuries  in  its  hands,  has  never 
attempted,  on  a  large  scale,  to  explore  the  vast  treas- 
ures of  the  deep  sea  that  washes  the  western  shores  of 
Ireland. 

That  was  in  1855.  England  has  since  learned 
the  lesson  and  every  season  now  explores  those 
treasures  referred  to  by  Marmion  in  her  own 
interest  and  for  her  own  profit,  English, 
Scotch,  Welsh  and  Manx  trawlers  now  infest 
Irish  waters,  and  are  not  deterred  from  poach- 
ing within  the  limits  by  the  one  small  steamboat 
that  patrols  the  whole  Irish  coast,  to  protect  the 
interests  of  the  poor  and  ill-equipped  Irish 
fishers. 

The  following  table  is  instructive,  as  it  shows 
pithily  the  tragic  decline  in  the  Irish  fisheries 
within  the  past  seventy  years : 


The  Irish  Fisheries 


207 


Year. 

No.  of  Vessels 

Men  and  Boys 

Quantity  of 
Fish  Landed 

1845 
1852 
1911 
1913 

19,883 

13,227 

5,515 

5,093 

93,073 

58,822 
20,098 
18,074 

989,484  cwts. 
676,392     " 

The  following  table  will  show  the  extent  of 
the  fishing  industry  carried  on  at  the  places 
mentioned  in  the  year  1851 : 


District 

No,  of  Vessels 

Men  and  Boys 

Claddagh 

1,083 

3,337 

Youghal 

574 

2,786 

Sligo 

475 

2,724 

Wexford 

448 

2,059 

Waterford 

384 

1,578 

Dundalk 

283 

1,235 

Arklow 

200 

950 

Furthermore,  the  records  tell  us  that  pre- 
vious to  1835  Cork  exported  annually  upwards 
of  20,000  barrels  of  herrings.  It  was  the  only 
place  then  known  where  fish  were  cured  and 
packed  to  stand  a  warm  climate.  In  1654  some 
120,000  barrels  of  herrings  were  cured  at  Wex- 
ford, of  which  number  80,000  were  exported  to 
England.  Marmion  relates  that ' '  at  Killala,  in 
1782,  as  if  to  usher  in  the  dawn  of  free  trade 
for  Ireland,  the  coast  swarmed  with  herrings ; 


208    What  Could  Germany  Do  For  Ireland? 

23  millions  were  caught  off  the  Rosses,  and  the 
Commissioners  of  Fisheries  were  assured  as 
many  could  have  been  taken  as  would  have 
loaded  every  vessel  in  Great  Britain."  Of  the 
inland  fisheries,  we  know  that  salmon  was  the 
daily  fare  of  the  whole  people  of  Ireland.  The 
salmon  fisheries  of  the  Suir,  Nore  and  Barrow, 
all  three  rivers  flowing  into  Waterford  harbor, 
exported  20,852  salmon,  weighing  151,645 
pounds,  to  Bristol  in  the  year  1844,  independent 
of  the  large  quantity  sent  to  Dublin  and  con- 
sumed at  home.  In  1843  some  21,660  salmon 
were  taken  on  the  River  Bann,  the  great  bulk 
of  the  catch  being  exported.  At  Sligo  some 
eight  tons  of  salmon  were  taken  in  1845,  and  a 
similar  tale  of  successful  fishing  could  be  re- 
lated, at  that  date,  of  every  other  river  in  Ire- 
land. Marmion,  in  the  quotation  above  given, 
referred  to  the  Dutch  fishing  off  the  Irish  coast. 
Long  before  the  Dutch  ruled  the  seas  the  Span- 
iards were  wont  to  send  at  least  600  ships  to 
Ireland  every  year  for  fishing  alone,  and  con- 
tinued to  do  so  for  many  a  year,  despite  an  act 
passed  in  England  in  1465  to  forbid  strangers 
from  fishing  on  the  Irish  shores  without  license. 


The  Irish  Fisheries  209 

Such  is,  in  bald  outline,  an  indication  of  the 
former  greatness  of  the  Irish  fishing  industry, 
and  of  the  wealth  that  lies  in  the  waters  that 
lave  her  shores.  How  England  accomplished 
the  destruction  of  this  industry  cannot  be  fully 
recited  within  the  necessarily  small  compass  of 
a  chapter  such  as  this.  It  was  neither  the  Eng- 
lish-promoted famine  of  1846-47  nor  the  terrible 
exodus  of  the  Irish  people  to  foreign  lands  in 
succeeding  years  that  brought  about  the  ruin 
of  this  industry.  Mention  has  been  made  of  an 
enactment  of  the  English  Parliament  of  1465, 
aimed  more  against  the  prosperity  of  the  Irish 
of  that  day,  due  to  their  direct  intercourse  with 
nations  other  than  England,  than  at  the  en- 
croachments of  the  Spanish  fishers  on  Irish 
waters.  For  the  Spaniards  paid  the  Irish  for 
permission  to  fish  off  their  coasts.  This,  and 
successive  restrictive  enactments  of  the  British 
House  of  Parliament,  brought  about  the  decline 
in  the  Irish  fisheries.  Let  us  hear  Marmion's 
comment  on  this  aspect  of  the  case : 

As  far  back  as  1777  an  act  was  passed  which  in 
itself  was  sufficient  to  annihilate  the  Irish  sea  fish- 
eries. It  prohibited  the  tanning  with  bark  of  nets 
and  lines  for  fishing  purposes,  and  rendered  com- 


210    What  Could  Germany  Do  For  Ireland? 


pulsory  the  smearing  of  them  with  tar  and  oil,  the 
color  and  smell  of  which  frightened  away  the  fish  and 
contributed  to  the  decay  of  the  nets,  while  the  Eng- 
lish fisherman  was  allowed  to  tan  his  nets  with  oak 
bark,  which  preserved  them  for  ten  or  twelve  seasons. 
The  greatest  enemy  to  the  Irish  fisheries  could  not 
have  devised  a  happier  scheme  than  this  to  extinguish 
them. 

This  great  industry  was  killed  of  set  purpose 
by  the  English,  the  cupidity,  envy  and  jealousy 
of  whose  merchants  have  worked  such  havoc  on 
all  Irish  efforts  after  commercial  and  industrial 
prosperity.  This  trade,  like  so  many  other 
Irish  businesses,  has  passed  into  the  hands  of 
the  English,  as  the  following  official  figures  will 
demonstrate : 


GREAT  BRITAIN                              IRELAND 

Year 

Vessels 

Men 

Vessels 

Men 

1899 
1901 

18,010 

17,422 

60,453 
59,138 

7,919 

7,877 

9,333 

8,689 

Let  us  examine  the  question  from  two  more 
aspects.  In  1901  Ireland  possessed  only  378 
first-class  boats  of  15  tons  and  upwards.  That 
same  year  Scotland  possessed  3,321  and  Eng- 
land 3,316  of  similar  tonnage.  Furthermore,  in 
1902  the  value  of  the  fish  landed  in  Ireland 


The  Irish  Fisheries  211 

amounted  to  only  $1,500,000,  whilst  the  figures 
for  Scotland  and  England,  respectively,  were 
$12,905,000  and  $34,000,000.  Figures  eloquent 
of  the  undoing  of  Ireland's  fisheries !  The  ques- 
tion need  not  be  argued  further.  The  industry 
today  is  all  but  extinct.  There  are  parts  of  the 
interior  of  Ireland,  small  as  the  country  is, 
where  a  fresh  deep-sea  fish  is  never  marketed. 
All  the  large  towns  and  populous  centers  are  de- 
pendent upon  England  for  their  fish  supplies. 
Indeed,  the  catches  scarcely  provide  fish  food, 
all  the  year  round,  for  the  poor  fishers  and  their 
families,  who  are  compelled  to  eke  out  a  liveli- 
hood by  combining  badly-conducted  tillage  with 
indifferent  fishing.  But  what  is  more  tragic 
from  the  point  of  view  of  the  patriots  of  the 
country  is  that  the  Irish  language  is  spoken  as 
an  every-day  tongue  only  by  the  poor  fisherfolk 
who  inhabit  the  coastal  districts,  and  their  im- 
poverishment and  passing  away  mean  the  in- 
evitable extinction  of  the  spoken  tongue  of  the 
Gael,  which  for  centuries  was  the  only  tongue 
spoken  in  Ireland.  The  fate  of  the  historic 
Irish  nation  under  British  domination  is  tragic 
in  the  extreme,  and  only  the  invincible  arms  of 


212    What  Could  Germany  Do  For  Ireland? 

Germany  can  undo  the  evil  and  destruction 
wrought  in  Ireland. 

The  Irish  administration  to  be  established 
will  be  judged  by  the  degree  of  prosperity  which 
the  country  will  reach  under  its  tutelage  and 
care.  In  the  preceding  chapters  sources  of 
wealth  have  been  indicated  that,  if  developed 
scientifically,  cannot  fail  to  assure  prosperity 
and  affluence  to  the  Irish  nation  in  the  years  to 
come.  In  the  deep-sea  and  inland  fisheries  of 
Ireland  lie  wealth  and  food  untold  for  the  en- 
richment and  sustenance  of  many  millions. 
True  statesmanship  will  avail  of  this  ready 
source  of  wealth  and  food  for  the  people,  and 
will  seek  to  develop  and  extend  a  world-wide 
trade  in  both  fresh  and  cured  fish.  Germany 
and  America  are  both  large  consumers  of  cured 
herrings.  Both  countries  at  the  present  time 
take  some  of  their  herring  supplies  from  Ire- 
land. This  is  a  market  capable  of  unlimited  de- 
velopment. The  sympathy  and  understanding 
that  exist  between  all  three  countries  will  prove 
a  valuable  asset  in  the  propagation  of  trade  and 
commerce  between  them.  Ireland  has  much  to 
gain  by  such  alliance.    Let  us  hope  her  leaders 


The  Irish  Fisheries  213 

of  the  future  wil  recognize  and  avail  themselves 
to  the  full  of  this  fact.  To  develop  the  Irish 
fisheries  on  scientific  lines  will  require  careful 
and  generous  handling.  The  antiquated  boats 
and  gear  will  have  to  be  replaced  by  up-to-date 
power  boats  with  modern  fishing  gear  and  ap- 
pliances. Piers  must  be  built  around  the  coast 
for  shelter  and  harborage.  The  existing  de- 
ficiency in  means  of  communication  with  mar- 
kets must  be  removed  by  the  provision  of  facil- 
ities for  quick  despatch  both  by  sea  and  land. 
The  Irish  carrying  companies  will  have  to  be 
made  to  recognize  that  their  present  high 
freight  and  inadequate  facilities  tend  to  dis- 
courage enterprise  in  Ireland,  and  the  state 
must  see  to  it  that  it  owns  and  operates  the  rail- 
ways for  the  good  of  the  people,  as  in  Germany. 
Curing  stations  on  land  and  adequate  apparatus 
for  curing  on  board  ship  must  be  established 
for  the  catch  of  fish  and  for  the  requirements 
of  the  different  markets.  The  provision  of 
suitable  and  highly  trained  teachers  for  such 
work  will  also  have  to  be  attended  to,  as  also  the 
training  of  the  boys  and  girls  to  make  and  mend 
the  fishing  nets,  for  which  Ireland  pays  to  Eng- 


214    What  Could  Germany  Do  For  Ireland? 

land  every  year  close  upon  $200,000.  The  erec- 
tion of  suitable  works  for  cooperage  and  box- 
making  must  also  be  provided,  and  a  market 
found  for  the  millions  of  tons  of  kelp  that 
strew  the  whole  coastline  of  Ireland.  An  ade- 
quate and  efficient  patrol  system  must  be  in- 
augurated. The  great  essential  will  be  capital, 
cheap  and  available  for  those  who  follow  the  call 
of  the  sea.  The  loans  that,  prior  to  the  war, 
were  granted  to  Irish  fishers  were  small  and 
inadequate,  and  have  altogether  ceased.  To  es- 
tablish the  industry  on  paying  lines  capital  will 
have  to  be  forthcoming  freely  and  on  easy 
terms.  The  banks  of  the  country  must  do  their 
share  here.  The  formation  of  companies  to 
carry  on  trawling  operations  on  a  large  scale 
must  be  encouraged,  and  Queenstown,  boycotted 
by  the  English  shipping  companies,  could  give 
far  greater  and  far  more  remunerative  em- 
ployment to  its  people  by  the  establishment  of 
a  trawling  fleet  in  the  harbor  than  it  ever  re- 
ceived from  the  emigrant  traffic,  for  which  alone 
the  English  boats  continued  to  call  at  that  port. 
Re-established  on  lines  such  as  those  herein  in- 
dicated, the  Irish  fishing  industry  would  speed- 


The  Irish  Fisheries  215 

ily  forge  to  the  front,  and  in  a  short  space  of 
time  the  wealth  now  lost  to  Ireland  in  her 
coastal  and  inland  waters  would  be  made  avail- 
able for  the  building  up  of  the  new  Irish  nation. 


CHAPTER  XIV 

IRELAND  IN  OLDEN  DAYS 

We've  heard  her  faults  a  hundred  times — the  new 

ones  and  the  old-—; 
In  songs  and  sermons,  rants  and  rhymes,  enlarged  a 

hundred-fold ; 
But  take  them  all,  the  great  and  small,  and  this  we  've 

got  to  say — 
Here's  dear  old  Ireland,  brave  old  Ireland,  Ireland, 

boys,  hurrah! 

Realizing  the  vital  importance  of  Ireland  to 
England's  world  domination,  both  on  sea  and 
land,  English  policy  in  regard  to  Ireland  has 
been  framed  and  directed  to  the  end  that  Ire- 
land's very  existence  as  a  separate  entity  on 
the  face  of  the  globe  would  come  to  be  forgotten 
in  time  by  the  peoples  of  other  countries,  and 
that  such  of  the  native  race  as  continued  to 
survive  the  rigors  of  British  rule  in  Ireland 
would  be  raised  in  ignorance  of  the  true  impor- 
tance of  Ireland  to  the  peace  and  security  of  the 
world.  To  those  of  the  Irish  race  conversant 
with  her  history  it  is  humiliating  to  have  to  tes- 
tify, after  wide  traveling  experience,  to  the 

216 


Ireland  in  Olden  Days  217 

density  of  the  ignorance  of  Ireland  and  of  her 
affairs  displayed  the  world  over  today.  Un- 
questionably, England  has  a  set  purpose  in 
causing  the  outside  world  to  forget  the  existence 
of  Ireland.  Where  the  name  "Ireland"  is 
known  to  foreigners,  it  is  invariably  understood 
to  form  an  internal  part  or  shire  of  England, 
and  English-speaking  Irishmen  experience  very 
considerable  difficulty  abroad  in  convincing 
even  educated  and  travelled  Continental  folk 
that  they  are  not  Englishmen,  nor  of  the  same 
country  or  race  as  Englishmen.  Time  was  when 
the  outer  world  was  fully  alive  to  the  existence 
of  Ireland,  when  she  filled  a  large  space  in  the 
sun ;  time  was  when  she  amply  justified  her  po- 
sition as  a  civilized  world  power,  radiating  with 
the  true  spirit  of  practical  Christianity.  As 
Mrs.  Alice  Stopford  Green,  widow  of  the  dis- 
tinguished English  historian  of  that  name,  tells 
us  in  her  historic  work,  "The  Making  of  Ireland 
and  Its  Undoing,"  as  early  as  1000  A.  D.  Ire- 
land was  known  to  France  as  "that  very 
wealthy  country  in  which  there  were  twelve 
cities,  with  wide  bishoprics,  and  a  king,  and 
which  had  its  own  language  and  Latin  letters. ' ' 


218    What  Could  Germany  Do  For  Ireland? 

In  1087  William  Rufus  of  England,  planning  an 
invasion  of  Ireland,  spoke  of  her  as  "a  land 
very  rich  in  plunder,  and  famed  for  the  good 
temperature  of  the  air,  the  fruitfulness  of  the 
soil,  the  pleasant  and  commodious  seats  for 
habitation,  and  safe  and  large  ports  and  havens 
lying  open  for  traffic. ' '  So  few  people  today  of 
the  outer  world  understand  that  the  Irish  race 
is  and  was  distinct  from  the  English,  and  so 
very  many  live  in  the  belief  that  England  al- 
ways did  own  Ireland,  and  so  large  a  number 
express  the  opinion  that  the  Irish  are  incapable 
of  working  out  the  destinies  of  their  nation,  that 
it  is  desirable  and  necessary  briefly  to  state  the 
true  historic  facts  of  the  Irish  situation  for  the 
enlightenment  of  democracies  the  world  over. 
Sir  J.  T.  Gilbert,  Ireland's  foremost  archivist 
and  archaeologist,  tells  us  that  the  earliest  tribes 
to  reach  Ireland,  back  in  the  twilight  of  history, 
long  ere  England  was  even  known  to  exist,  were 

familiar  with  all  science  necessary  to  preserve  exis- 
tence and  organize  a  new  country  into  a  human  habi- 
tation. They  cleared  the  forests,  worked  the  mines, 
built  chambers  for  their  dead  after  the  manner  of 
their  kindred  left  in  Tyre  and  Greece,  wrought  arms, 
defensive  and  offensive,  such  as  the  heroes  of  Mara- 
thon   used    against    the    long-haired    Persian;    they 


Ireland  in  Olden  Bays  219 

raised  altar  and  pillar  stones,  still  standing  amongst 
us,  mysterious  and  eternal  symbols  of  a  simple,  prim- 
itive creed;  they  had  bards,  priests,  and  law-givers, 
the  old  tongue  of  Shinar,  the  dress  of  Nineveh,  and 
the  ancient  faith  whose  ritual  was  prayer  and  sacri- 
fice. 

Of  the  second  people  who  found  their  way  to 
Ireland  the  same  authority  tells  us  that  they 

brought  with  them  the  Syrian  arts  and  civilization, 
such  as  dyeing  and  weaving,  working  in  gold,  silver 
and  brass,  besides  the  written  characters,  the  same  as 
Cadmus  afterwards  gave  to  Greece,  and  which  re- 
mained in  use  amongst  the  Irish  for  above  a  thousand 
years,  until  modified  by  St.  Patrick  into  their  pres- 
ent form  to  assimilate  them  to  the  Latin. 

Continuing,  this  same  writer,  from  his  re- 
searches, ascertained  that 

continued  intercourse  with  their  Tyrian  kindred  soon 
filled  Ireland  with  the  refinements  of  a  luxurious  civi- 
lization. From  various  sources  we  learn  that  in  those 
ancient  times  the  native  dress  was  costly  and  pic- 
turesque, and  the  habits  and  modes  of  living  of  the 
chiefs  splendid  and  Oriental.  The  high-born  and 
wealthy  wore  tunics  and  fine  linen  of  immense  width, 
girdled  with  gold,  and  with  flowing  sleeves  after  the 
Eastern  fashion.  .  .  .  The  ladies  wore  the  silken 
robes  and  flowing  veils  of  Persia,  or  rolls  of  linen 
wound  round  the  head  like  the  Egyptian  Isis,  the 
hair  curiously  plaited  down  the  back  and  fastened 
with  gold  or  silver  bodkins,  whilst  the  neck  and  arms 
were  profusely  covered  with  jewels.  These  relics  of 
a  civilization  3,000  years  old  may  still  be  gazed  upon 
by  modern  eyes  in  the  splendid  and  unrivalled  anti- 


220    What  Could  Germany  Do  For  Ireland? 

quarian  collection  of  the  Royal  Irish  Academy  (Dub- 
lin). The  golden  circlets,  the  fibulae,  torcques, 
bracelets,  rings,  etc.,  worn  by  the  native  race  are  not 
only  costly  in  value,  but  often  so  singularly  beautiful 
in  the  working  out  of  minute  artistic  details  that 
modern  art  is  not  merely  unable  to  imitate  them  but 
even  unable  to  comprehend  how  the  ancient  workers 
in  metals  could  accomplish  works  of  such  delicate, 
almost  microscopic,  minuteness  of  finish. 

This  half-Tyrian,  half-Greek  race  occupied 
Ireland  for  centuries  and  traded  with  Tyre,  and 
subsequently  with  Carthage.  That  Ireland  had 
an  extensive  and  valuable  Continental  trade  in 
pre-Christian  days  has  been  demonstrated  be- 
yond dispute.  The  Brehon  Laws  of  Ireland  and 
the  Book  of  Eights  contain  so  many  and  such 
detailed  instructions  regarding  oversea  trade 
that  it  is  not  necessary  to  look  for  other  author- 
ities within  Ireland.  Historical  writers  of 
France  speak  of  the  early  trade  relations  be- 
tween Ireland  and  that  country.  Tacitus,  who 
lived  in  the  first  century  of  the  Christian  era, 
has  left  it  on  record  that  the  ports  of  Ireland 
were  better  known  to  merchants  and  traders  by 
reason  of  the  abundance  of  commerce  than  those 
of  Britain.  From  Juvenal's  " Satires' '  we 
learn  that  Irish  woolens  were  sold  in  the  mar- 


Ireland  in  Olden  Bays  221 

kets  of  Rome  at  that  early  period.  King  Al- 
fred of  the  Saxons,  who  came  to  Ireland  to 
study  in  the  year  635,  has  left  it  on  record  that 
he  found  in  Ireland  "much  food,  raiment,  gold, 
silver,  honey,  wheat,  health,  prosperity,  traffic 
and  cities."  Before  Norse  or  English  invaded 
Ireland,  commercial  relationship  with  Tyre, 
Carthage,  Greece,  Italy,  Spain,  France,  Bel- 
gium, Britain  and  Scotland  had  been  established 
by  Ireland.  In  far-away  Arabia,  too,  our  coun- 
try was  known  as  "Irandah-al-Kaberah"  (Ire- 
land the  Great).  At  the  time  of  the  Anglo- 
Saxon  invasion  of  Ireland,  Dublin  was  de- 
scribed by  an  English  writer  as  "  a  noble  mari- 
time city,  the  metropolis  of  Ireland,  and  about 
the  rival  of  London  for  commerce  and  abun- 
dance of  its  port."  It  was,  in  fact,  as  Mrs. 
Green  tells  us, 

the  activity,  the  importance,  and  the  riches  of  Ire- 
land that  drew  to  it  the  attention  of  commercial  Eng- 
land nnder  the  Tudor  kings.  For  in  the  spacious  days 
of  their  business  adventures,  wealth  that  was  not  in 
English  hands  seemed  to  practical  Englishmen  re- 
sources merely  wasted  and  lost. 

Again,  she  tells  us  that 

Ireland,  in  fact,  was  a  country  of  active  and  organized 
industry,  with  skilled  manufacturers  and  a  wide  com- 


222    What  Could  Germany  Do  For  Ireland? 

merce.  Its  artisans  had  long  been  passing  over  to 
other  lands  for  trade  in  considerable  numbers.  .  .  . 
The  chief  resort  of  Irish  merchants  was  to  the  Con- 
tinent. .  .  .  Numbers  of  married  Irishmen  set- 
tled in  the  Netherlands  and  in  Spain  and  had  free 
access  and  traffic  there.  In  the  Spanish  war  with 
England,  Phillip  ordered  that  the  Irish  traders  should 
not  be  interfered  with:  they  passed  freely  every- 
where. .  .  .  European  culture  was  carried  back 
to  Ireland  by  her  merchants  abroad,  and  Irish  scholars 
were  supported  on  the  Continent,  and  Irish  colleges 
endowed  by  these  traders  in  foreign  lands.  .  .  . 
Evidences  of  an  extensive  trade  were  to  be  met  with 
round  the  entire  coast  of  Ireland,  spreading  thence 
over  the  whole  of  Europe.  .  .  .  Irish  merchants 
of  the  towns  were  sailing  their  ships  to  the  chief  ports 
of  Europe  and  amassing  substantial  fortunes.  At 
home  they  were  building  houses  and  improving  the 
towns  in  a  manner  that  befitted  their  standing.  .  .  . 
Inland  trade  prospered  with  the  traffic  of  frequent 
markets,  the  interchange  of  gold  and  silver  plate,  and 
the  ' '  large  tributes  of  money f '  given  to  Ireland  by  the 
commerce  of  European  nations.  The  people  who  had 
some  schooling  naturally  talked  Latin,  the  language 
of  their  Continental  trade,  for  English  would  have 
been  of  little  use  to  them  in  commerce,  and  ' '  the  Irish 
is  as  wise  as  the  Spaniard  is  proud, ' '  said  an  English 
observer. 

Truly,  as  Mrs.  Green  pithily  concludes : 

it  was  indeed  the  wealth  and  not  the  poverty  of  the 
people  of  Ireland  that  had  drawn  the  invaders  to  her 
pillage. 

Side  by  side  and  contemporaneous  with  this 
great  development  in  the  internal  and  external 


Ireland  in  Olden  Bays  223 

trade  of  Ireland,  the  national  love  for  learning 
asserted  itself  in  a  manner  that  was  at  once  a 
revelation  and  a  source  of  inspiration  to  the 
rest  of  Europe.  Schools  and  monasteries  flour- 
ished throughout  the  land,  practically  all  of 
them  built  and  endowed  by  native  princes  and 
wealthy,  public-spirited  merchants.  Scholars 
were  hospitably  welcomed  throughout  the  land. 
Her  great  seats  of  learning  were  open  free  to 
students  from  abroad,  and  youths  of  England, 
France,  Germany  and  Switzerland  flocked  to 
them  for  knowledge  and  culture.  Lord  Lyttle- 
ton,  in  his  "Life  of  Henry  11.,"  states  that 

many  Irish  went  from  thence  (Ireland)  to  convert 
and  teach  other  nations.  Many  Saxons  out  of  Eng- 
land resorted  thither  for  instruction,  and  brought 
from  thence  the  use  of  letters  to  their  ignorant  coun- 
trymen. 

Guizot,  the  historian,  of  France,  relates  that 

of  all  the  countries  of  the  west,  Ireland  was,  for  a 
long  time,  that  in  which  alone  learning  was  supported, 
and  throve  amid  the  general  overthrow  of  Europe. 

Mosheim,  in  his  "Ecclesiastical  History/ '  af- 
firms that 

the  Irish  were  lovers  of  learning,  and  distinguished 
themselves  in  those  times  of  ignorance  beyond  all  other 
European  nations,  traveling  through  the  most  dis- 


224    What  Could  Germany  Do  For  Ireland? 

tant  lands  with  a  view  to  improve  and  communicate 
their  knowledge,  ...  we  see  them  in  the  most 
authentic  records  of  antiquity  discharging,  with  the 
highest  reputation  and  applause,  the  functions  of 
doctors  in  France,  Germany  and  Italy. 

History  teaches  us  that  it  was  Ireland, 
through  St.  Cokimcille,  who  Christianized  Scot- 
land, and  that  after  his  death  (A.  D.  597)  his 
Irish  monks  from  Iona  carried  his  Christianiz- 
ing work  over  the  whole  of  England,  succeeding 
in  their  mission  where  Augustine  and  his 
Roman  missionaries  had  failed  in  their  efforts. 
St.  Columbanus,  with  twelve  Irish  monks, 
crossed  Gaul  to  the  Vosges  and  founded  monas- 
teries at  Lnxeuil  (575  A.  D.)  in  France,  in 
Switzerland,  and  at  Bobbio  in  the  Appenines. 
Ireland  gave  St.  Gall  to  Switzerland,  and  St. 
Killian  and  St.  Virgilius  to  Germany.  In  Ger- 
many today  no  fewer  than  200  churches  are 
dedicated  to  the  memories  of  Irish  missionaries. 
An  Irishman,  John  Scotus  Erigena,  taught  phil- 
osophy with  distinction  at  Paris,  and  we  know 
that  Charlemagne  confided  into  the  care  of  Irish 
missionaries  the  two  universities  which  he 
founded  in  Paris  and  Pavia.  Twelve  Irish  mon- 
asteries   were    established    in    Germany    and 


Ireland  in  Olden  Days  225 

Austria,  and  an  Irish  abbot  presided  over  a  seat 
of  learning  in  Bulgaria.  Indeed,  so  great  be- 
came the  fame  of  Ireland  among  Continental 
peoples  that  "strangers,  moved  by  the  love  of 
study,  set  out  after  the  manner  of  their  ances- 
tors, to  visit  the  land  of  the  Irish,  so  wonder- 
fully celebrated  for  its  learning." 

Such  is  but  a  faint  picture  of  Ireland  in  those 
days  when  she  was  truly  Irish — 

Ere  the  emerald  gem  of  the  western  world 
Was  set  in  the  crown  of  a  stranger. 

"Irish  history,' '  said  an  English  statesman 
of  our  day,  "is  for  Ireland  to  forget.' '  To  be 
true  to  the  traditions  and  teachings  of  his 
school  he  should  have  asked  the  outside  world 
to  do  likewise,  but,  no  doubt,  with  his  official 
knowledge,  he  considered  it  superfluous  to  do 
so,  since  the  diplomacy  and  statecraft  of  Eng- 
land have  ever  worked,  and  with  only  too  suc- 
cessful effect,  to  make  the  outer  nations  forget 
Ireland,  and  disremember  all  that  European 
civilization  owes  to  the  culture  and  missionary 
and  commercial  zeal  of  the  Irish  in  pre-English 
days.  That  this  was  England's  avowed  pur- 
pose in  the  days  of  her  early  empire  is  con- 


226    What  Could  Germany  Do  For  Ireland? 

f essed  by  their  own  historian  Plowden,  who  has 

frankly  avowed  that 

we  (English)  have  still  more  reason  to  lament  the 
shameful  and  fatal  policy  of  our  ancestors  (English), 
who  from  the  first  invasion  of  Henry  Plantagenet 
down  to  the  reign  of  James  L,  took  all  possible  means 
of  art  and  force  to  destroy  whatever  writings  had  by 
chance  or  care  been  preserved  from  destruction  at  the 
hands  of  the  Danes.  They  (English)  imagined  that 
the  perusal  of  such  work  kept  alive  the  spirit  of  the 
natives  (Irish)  and  kindled  them  to  rebellion  by  re- 
minding them  of  the  power,  independence,  and 
prowess  of  their  ancestry. 

That  same  spirit  has  been  handed  down 
through  the  ages,  and  it  is  to  this  desire  on  the 
part  of  the  English  to  obliterate  all  traces  of 
native  greatness  in  Ireland  from  the  minds  of 
the  Irish  that  the  teaching  of  Irish  history  in 
the  schools  and  colleges  of  Ireland  has  been  at 
all  times  discountenanced  by  the  English  in  Ire- 
land. 

There  was  a  day  when  Ireland  was  one  of  the 
European  centers  of  medical  science.  That  day 
is  past;  young  Irish  physicians  and  surgeons 
of  ability  seek  other  fields.  Some  of  the  great- 
est doctors  in  the  United  States  were  born  in 
Ireland.  One  of  the  leading  hospitals  in  Europe 
is  located  in  Dublin.    Dr.  William  J.  Mayo,  of 


Ireland  in  Olden  Bays  227 

Eochester,    Minnesota,    who    is    regarded    as 

America's  foremost  surgeon,  says: 

Germany  has  been  and  is  today  the  centre  of  medi- 
cal science.  The  Germans  are,  indeed,  leaders  in  all 
branches  of  science,  and  they  also  possess  the  power 
to  maintain  themselves  on  this  height.  Americans 
particularly  have  profited  from  the  German  school 
more  than  any  other.  The  Germans  have  gladly  let 
others  partake  of  their  astounding  store  of  knowl- 
edge.   They  have  educated  the  world. 

In  all  of  the  great  German  universities  there 
is  unfeigned  admiration  for  the  Irish  friend- 
ships formed,  and  in  medical  science  German 
knowledge  will  prove  of  great  help  in  the  phys- 
ical welfare  of  the  Ireland  that  is  to  be. 

The  Gaelic  language  is  studied  and  honored 

in  several  German  universities,  and  one  of  the 

most  valuable  lectures  on  ancient  Ireland  the 

writer  heard  from  the  lips  of  Professor  Kuno 

Meyer    of    Dublin,    a    noted    Irish    language 

scholar.    We  quote  Professor  Meyer: 

English  conquest  and  English  policy  have  com- 
pletely altered  the  natural  and  historical  position  of 
Ireland  with  regard  to  the  rest  of  the  world.  She  has 
compelled  the  trade  of  Ireland  to  be  with  herself 
alone;  she  has  cut  her  off  from  all  direct  communi- 
cation with  the  Continent,  and  keeps  her,  as  it  were, 
concealed  from  Europe,  while  so  long  as  Ireland  was 
free  and  independent,  she,  lying  in  the  direct  route 
of  trade,  carried  on  a  thriving  commerce  with  Spain, 


228    What  Could  Germany  Do  For  Ireland? 

France  and  Scandinavia,  and  was  as  much  a  part  of 
Europe  as  any  other  country  on  that  continent.  By 
this  intercourse,  which  goes  back  to  the  earliest  times, 
it  came  to  pass  that  Ireland,  though  never  conquered 
by  Rome,  shared  in  the  general  civilization  of  Europe. 
This  we  can  best  see  from  Irish  art,  in  which  we  can 
trace  Roman,  Greek  and  even  Oriental  influences. 

When,  in  the  fifth  century,  Ireland  had  become 
the  heiress  of  the  classical  and  theological  learning  of 
the  Western  Empire,  a  period  of  humanism  was 
ushered  in  which  reached  its  culmination  in  the  sixth 
and  following  centuries,  the  golden  age  of  Irish  civi- 
lization, as  we  may  call  it.  The  charge  that  is  so 
often  leveled  against  Irish  history,  that  it  has  been, 
as  it  were,  in  a  backwater,  where  only  the  fainter  wash 
of  the  larger  currents  reaches,  cannot  apply  to  this 
period.  For  once,  at  any  rate,  Ireland  drew  upon  her- 
self the  eyes  of  the  whole  world,  not,  as  so  often  in 
later  times,  by  her  unparalleled  sufferings,  but  as  the 
one  haven  of  rest  in  a  world  overrun  by  barbarians, 
as  the  great  seminary  of  Christian  and  classical  learn- 
ing, the  quiet  habitation  of  sanctity  and  literature. 
Her  sons,  carrying  Christianity  and  a  new  humanism 
over  Great  Britain  and  the  Continent,  became  the 
teachers  of  other  nations,  the  tutors  of  princes  and 
the  counselors  of  kings  and  emperors.  For  once,  if 
but  for  a  century  or  two,  the  Celtic  spirit  dominated 
a  large  part  of  the  Western  World,  and  Celtic  ideals 
imparted  a  new  life  to  a  decadent  civilization. 

I  need  not  here  repeat  the  story  of  the  English  con- 
quest. Throughout  it  was  the  chief  object  of  English 
diplomacy  to  keep  the  people  in  slavish  subjugation, 
not  to  grant  them  any  rights,  not  to  respect  or  safe- 
guard their  interests,  but  to  exploit  the  rich  resources 
of  the  country  for  the  benefit  of  England  alone.  The 
whole  of  Ireland  was  again  and  again  declared  for- 
feited. No  attempt  was  ever  made  to  build  up  a  com- 
mon civilization.    Laws  enacted  applied  to  the  foreign 


Ireland  in  Olden  Days  229 

settlers  alone;  the  natives  were  regarded  as  outside 
the  law,  as  outlaws.  From  the  time  of  Henry  VIII. 
into  the  last  century  the  history  of  Ireland  is  a  tale 
of  unmitigated  woe.  No  country,  no  people,  ever  suf- 
fered so  long  and  so  much. 

Strange,  indeed,  are  the  ironies  of  fate.  The 
descendants  of  the  native  land-owners,  who 
were  driven  from  Ireland  by  the  invaders,  saw 
their  land  given  to  the  officers  and  soldiers  of 
invading  armies.  The  exiles  have  prospered  in 
foreign  lands.  The  ascendent  class  in  Ireland, 
wTho  have  lived  on  these  stolen  lands  for  genera- 
tions, are  now  giving  up  their  lives  in  Flanders 
and  at  the  Dardanelles,  and  in  the  Balkans,  lest 
a  German  invasion  of  Ireland  may  restore  these 
estates  to  the  rightful  heirs,  exiled  and  scat- 
tered over  the  world.  We  are  told  that  the  mills 
of  the  gods  grind  slowly  and  they  grind  exceed- 
ing fine,  or  that  we  suffer  from  the  crimes  of  our 
ancestors.  However  that  may  be,  there  is 
scarcely  a  landlord  family  in  Ireland,  con- 
nected wTith  the  invasions  of  Ireland,  but  has 
lost  one  or  more  sons  in  this  war,  and  usually 
the  oldest  and  heir  to  the  estate.  In  some  fam- 
ilies all  of  the  boys  have  been  killed  or  wounded. 
They  are  brave  men  from  all  accounts,  but  suf- 


230    What  Could  Germany  Do  For  Ireland? 

fering  from  the  very  social  system  which  they 
enforced  on  the  poor  people  who  will  not  go  to 
the  front  to  fight  and  die  for  the  aristocratic 
army  set.  Among  the  list  of  Irish  casualties  we 
find  such  inveterate  enemies  of  the  cause  of 
Irish  freedom  in  Ulster,  whence  the  writer 
comes,  as  the  Duke  of  Abercorn,  Lord  Hamilton, 
Marquis  of  Londonderry,  the  Earls  of  Amesly, 
Ranfurly,  Erne,  Caledon,  Kilmorey,  Clanwil- 
liam,  Lords  Templeton,  Clanmonis,  Dunleath, 
Lifford,  Belmore,  and  many  others,  descended 
from  the  soldiers  of  Cromwell  and  William, 
Prince  of  Orange,  or  Queen  Elizabeth. 


CHAPTER  XV 

IRELAND   UNDER   IRISH   PARLIAMENTS 

During  the  past  seven  hundred  years  England  has 
in  no  instance  observed  in  good  faith  a  single  prom- 
ise or  pledge  made  to  Ireland  nor  to  the  world  at 
large,  unless  through  self-interest  or  fear.  Dr. 
Thomas  Addis  Emmet. 

In  the  foregoing  chapter  some  indication  of 
Ireland's  religious,  social  and  commercial  pre- 
eminence in  Europe  in  early  days  was  sketched 
to  show  the  Celtic  culture  long  forgotten.  It  is 
important  to  speak  briefly  of  the  political  gov- 
ernment created  and  enjoyed  by  the  Irish 
people  themselves  in  the  centuries  of  their  ex- 
istence as  a  distinct  race  in  Europe.  A  large 
number  of  persons  live  in  the  belief  that  Ireland 
always  was  ruled  by  and  from  England,  Ire- 
land's self-styled  "rich  and  generous  sister.' ' 
Hence  it  is  necessary  to  say  that  up  to  the  year 
1800  A.  D.,  Ireland  was  ruled  by  laws  framed 
and  passed  by  Irish  Parliaments,  operating 
within  the  confines  of  Ireland.  In  the  year  1800 
the  Parliaments  of  Ireland  and  England  became 

231 


232    What  Could  Germany  Do  For  Ireland? 

united  for  the  first  time.  The  story  of  that 
union  is  most  discreditable  and  infamous,  ac- 
cording to  the  late  William  E.  Gladstone.  Those 
not  conversant  with  its  sordid  and  tragic  de- 
tails might,  as  a  beginning,  study  the  English 
historian  Lecky's  narrative  of  the  most  infa- 
mous chapter  in  the  inglorious  history  of  Brit- 
ish rule  in  Ireland.  From  the  coming  of  the 
Normans  to  Ireland  in  1169  down  to  1800  Anglo- 
Irish  Parliaments,  chiefly  in  the  English  inter- 
est, were  held  irregularly  in  Ireland,  but  it  was 
such  legislatures  and  not  the  English  House  of 
Commons  that  made  laws  for  the  government 
of  Ireland.  From  1169  away  back  to  the  dawn 
of  history  in  Europe,  Ireland  was  ruled  over  by 
Parliaments  centered  in  Ireland,  and  in  which 
the  whole  national  life  of  the  country  was  fully 
and  truly  represented. 

Let  us  briefly  review  the  first  of  such  institu- 
tions.   Writes  the  English  historian  Plowden: 

The  grand  epoch  of  political  eminence  in  the  early 
history  of  the  Irish  is  the  reign  of  their  great  and 
favorite  monarch,  Olamh  Fodlah,  who  flourished,  ac- 
cording to  Keating,  about  950  before  Christ.  Under 
him  was  established  the  great  Feis  at  Teamair  or 
Tara,  which  was,  in  fact,  a  triennial  convention  of 
the  states,  or  a  Parliament.     The  monarch  and  the 


Ireland  Under  Irish  Parliaments       233 

provincial  and  other  kings,  who  had  exclusive  power 
in  their  hands,  on  one  side,  and  the  philosophers  and 
Druids,  together  with  the  deputies  of  the  people,  on 
the  other,  formed  the  whole  of  this  ancient  legisla- 
ture. When  the  great  council  was  convened,  previous 
to  entering  on  business  they  sat  down  to  sumptuous 
entertainments  for  six  days  successively.  Very 
minute  accounts  are  given  by  the  Irish  annalists  of 
the  magnificence  and  order  of  these  entertainments, 
from  which  we  may  collect  the  earliest  traces  of 
heraldry  that  occur  in  history  and  deduce  that  par- 
tiality for  family  distinctions  which  to  this  day  forms 
a  striking  part  of  the  Irish  national  character.  .  .  . 
To  preserve  order  and  regularity  in  the  great  number 
and  variety  of  the  guests  who  met  together  on  those 
occasions,  when  the  banquet  was  ready  to  be  served 
up,  the  shield-bearers  of  the  princes  and  other  mem- 
bers of  the  convention  delivered  in  their  masters' 
shields,  which  were  readily  distinguished  by  the  coats 
of  arms  emblazoned  upon  them.  These  were  arranged 
by  the  Grand  Marshal  and  principal  herald  upon  the 
walls  upon  the  right  sides  of  the  table,  and  upon  en- 
tering, each  member  took  his  seat  under  his  respective 
shield  without  the  slightest  disturbance.  The  first 
six  days  were  not  spent  in  disorderly  reveling  or  ex- 
cess, but  were  particularly  devoted  to  the  examining 
and  settling  of  the  historical  antiquities  and  annals 
of  the  kingdom.  They  were  publicly  rehearsed  and 
privately  inspected  by  a  select  committee  of  the  most 
learned  of  the  members.  When  they  had  passed  the 
approbation  of  the  assembly  they  were  transcribed 
into  the  authentic  chronicles  of  the  nation,  which  was 
called  "The  Register  of  the  Psalm  of  Tara." 

Of  such  was  the  constitution  of  the  first  of 
the  triennial  Parliaments  established  in  Ireland 


234    What  Could  Germany  Do  For  Ireland? 

by  her  native  rulers,  and  such  was  the  ordinance 
that  guided  the  deliberations  of  similar  Parlia- 
ments held  in  Ireland  without  break  down  to 
the  coming  of  the  English  to  Ireland.  Under 
their  grave,  deliberate  and  wise  guidance  Ire- 
land prospered  commercially  and  developed  a 
civilization,  one  of  the  highest  to  be  met  with 
in  the  world  of  that  day.  At  the  National  As- 
sembly of  Drumceat,  held  near  Derry  in  574 
A.  D.,  the  claim  of  the  Dalriadic  King  of  Scot- 
land to  be  independent  of  the  King  of  Ireland 
was  allowed.  The  last  of  these  native  Irish 
Parliaments  was  held  under  Roderick  O'Con- 
nor, High  King  of  Ireland  when  the  Normans 
first  landed  in  Ireland.  Thenceforth,  from  the 
council  held  in  Lismore  by  Henry  II.  of  Eng- 
land in  1172,  Anglo-Irish  Parliaments  met  oc- 
casionally down  to  1800.  England's  first,  step 
towards  making  laws  in  the  English  Parliament 
for  Ireland  was  taken  in  the  year  1494,  when,  at 
Drogheda,  she  had  the  then  Anglo-Saxon  Par- 
liament pass  Poyning's  law  into  force,  by  which 
the  heads  of  bills  to  be  introduced  into  the  Irish 
Parliament  were  first  to  be  submitted  to  Eng- 
land for  her  approval.     This  enactment  was 


Ireland  Under  Irish  Parliaments^       235 

aimed  at  the  ultimate  extinction  of  the  Anglo- 
Irish  Parliament  in  Ireland.  In  1689  King 
James  II.  held  Parliament  in  Dublin,  the  first 
act  of  which  was  to  declare  "that  the  English 
Parliament  had  not,  and  never  had,  any  right 
to  legislate  for  Ireland,  and  that  none  save  the 
King  and  Parliament  of  Ireland  could  make 
laws  to  bind  Ireland."  Writing  of  this  period 
of  Irish  history,  the  illustrious  Thomas  Davis 
said: 

This  Parliament  exercised  less  severity  than  any  of 
its  time ;  it  established  liberty  of  conscience  and  equal- 
ity of  creeds ;  it  proscribed  no  man  for  his  religion — 
the  word  Protestant  does  not  occur  in  any  Act ;  it  in- 
troduced many  laws  of  great  practical  value  in  the 
business  of  society;  it  removed  the  disabilities  of  the 
natives,  the  scars  of  old  fetters;  it  was  generous  to 
the  king,  yet  carried  its  own  opinions  out  against  his 
where  they  differed ;  it,  finally — and  what  should  win 
the  remembrance  and  veneration  of  Irishmen  of  all 
time — boldly  announced  our  national  independence, 
in  words  which  Molyneux  shouted  on  to  Swift,  and 
Swift  to  Lucas,  and  Lucas  to  Flood,  and  Flood  and 
Grattan  redoubling  the  cry ;  Dungannon  Church  rang, 
and  Ireland  was  again  a  nation.  Yet,  something  it 
said  escaped  the  hearing  or  surpassed  the  vigor  of  the 
last  century ;  it  said,  ' '  Irish  commerce  fostered, ' '  and 
it  was  faintly  heard,  but  it  said,  "An  Irish  navy  to 
shield  our  coasts,"  and  it  said,  "An  Irish  army  to 
scathe  the  invaders,"  and  Grattan  neglected  both,  and 
our  coast  had  no  guardian,  and  our  desecrated  fields 
knew  no  avenger. 


236    What  Could  Germany  Do  For  Ireland? 

We  hurry  on  to  Grattan's  Parliament,  the 
last  and  most  remarkable  of  Anglo-Irish  Par- 
liaments held  in  Ireland,  and  the  one  which 
finally  was  corrupted  into  betraying  the  rights 
and  liberties  of  the  Irish  nation  into  the  custody 
of  perfidious  England.  This  Parliament  did 
not  represent  the  whole  people  of  Ireland,  inas- 
much as  Catholics  were  excluded  from  its  por- 
tals and  deliberations,  and  then,  as  now,  Catho- 
lics formed  the  overwhelming  majority  of  the 
population  of  Ireland.  The  Parliament  was  in 
every  sense  the  Parliament  of  the  English  gar- 
rison in  Ireland.  It  was  a  pliable  tool  in  the 
hands  of  the  cunning  English  statesmen  of  that 
day.  But  rotten  as  its  very  nature  was,  still, 
backed  up  by  the  swords  of  the  Irish  Volun- 
teers, it  achieved  much  for  the  good  of  the  coun- 
try, and  had  it  been  let  live,  indications  were 
not  wanting  that  after  the  lapse  of  a  short  space 
of  time,  it  would  have  come  to  recognize  that 
the  people  of  Ireland — the  Catholics  of  the 
country — were  entitled  to  representation  in  the 
Parliament  of  Ireland,  and  that  religious  be- 
lief should  be  no  detriment  to  entry  into  the 
Parliament  of  the  land. 


Ireland  Under  Irish  Parliaments       237 

The  teachings  of  the  French  Revolution  had 
found  their  way  into  Ireland.  Men  began  to 
aspire  to  a  fuller  measure  of  freedom  than  was 
so  far  permitted  to  them  by  England.  The  war 
with  America  had  reduced  England's  military 
power  to  such  an  extent  that  when  the  Irish 
coast  was  threatened  with  invasion  from  Amer- 
ican and  French  privateers,  neither  men,  mu- 
nitions nor  money  were  available  for  the  pur- 
pose of  defending  the  coasts  of  the  country.  In 
reply  to  a  message  from  the  municipal  head  of 
Belfast,  the  secretary  to  the  English  Lord  Lieu- 
tenant of  Ireland  of  that  day  wrote :  '  *  His  Ex- 
cellency can  at  present  send  no  further  military 
aid  to  Belfast  than  a  troop  or  two  of  horse  or 
part  of  a  company  of  invalids.,,  This  declared 
incapacity  of  the  British  rulers  of  Ireland  to 
repel  possible  invaders  brought  about  the  birth 
of  the  Irish  Volunteers,  who  suddenly  sprang 
into  existence  as  a  splendidly  equipped,  dis- 
ciplined and  effective  national  army,  dependent 
only  upon  the  patriotism  of  the  people.  Catho- 
lics were  not  at  first  admitted  into  its  ranks, 
though  out  of  their  patriotism  they  contributed, 
from  the  birth  of  the  movement,  to  its  financial 


238    What  Could  Germany  Do  For  Ireland? 

support.  In  a  short  time  the  Irish  Volunteers 
numbered  fully  100,000  armed  men,  officered  by 
some  of  the  leading  nobles  of  the  land.  A  spirit 
of  practical  patriotism  animated  them  from 
their  foundation.  They  aimed  first  at  ensuring 
the  commercial  prosperity  of  their  country, 
and  ultimately  succeeded  in  winning  complete 
legislative  independence  for  Ireland.  The  ef- 
fect of  the  Volunteer  movement  of  that  day  on 
the  country  was  electric;  its  effect  on  the  Brit- 
ish Government  was  even  more  so.  So  dan- 
gerous for  the  English  occupation  of  Ireland 
had  the  movement  become  that  the  English  Par- 
liament passed  a  law  "to  allow  Ireland  free 
trade  in  wool,  woolens,  glass,  leather,  and  all 
other  forms  of  manufacture,  to  all  the  ports  of 
the  British  colonies  and  plantations  hitherto 
closed  to  her  commerce."  This  measure,  the 
offspring  of  fear,  was  hailed  throughout  Ire- 
land as  a  victory  for  the  Volunteers  and  for 
their  illustrious  spokesman  and  leader,  Henry 
Grattan.  A  greater  humiliation  was  in  store 
for  England.  The  people  of  Ireland  were  con- 
vinced that  the  only  guarantee  for  the  perma- 
nence of  the  concessions  gained  was  in  the  com- 


Ireland  Under  Irish  Parliaments       239 

plete  independence  of  the  Irish  Parliament.  On 
April  16,  1782,  Henry  Grattan  moved,  and  the 
Irish  Parliament  passed,  resolutions  demand- 
ing the  repeal  of  the  English  Act  6th  of  George 
L,  which  averred  that  acts  of  the  English  Par- 
liament were  binding  on  Ireland;  protesting 
against  mutilation  or  suppression  by  the  Eng- 
lish Privy  Council  of  acts  passed  by  the  Irish 
House  of  Commons,  and  finally,  proclaiming 
that 

the  Kingdom  of  Ireland  is  a  distinct  kingdom,  with  a 
Parliament  of  her  own,  and  that  there  is  no  body  of 
men  competent  to  make  laws  to  bind  the  nation  but 
the  King,  Lords  and  Commons  of  Ireland,  nor  any 
Parliament  which  hath  any  power  or  authority  of 
any  sort  in  this  kingdom  save  only  the  Parliament  of 
Ireland. 

The  unanimity  of  the  whole  people  of  Ireland, 
the  military  power  and  preparedness  of  the 
Irish  Volunteers,  and  the  enfeebled  condition  of 
England  compelled  her  to  renounce  forever  any 
right  or  title  to  make  laws  to  bind  the  people  of 
Ireland.  This  Act  of  Eenunciation  of  1782  still 
remains  unrevoked  on  the  statute  book  of  the 
English  House  of  Commons.  How  the  freedom 
thus  won  for  Ireland  became  subsequently  un- 


240    What  Could  Germany  Do  For  Ireland? 

done;  how  the  Irish  Parliament  became  in  a 
few  short  years  merged  into  that  of  England,  is 
a  tale  of  baseness  and  blackguardism,  than 
which,  in  the  words  of  Gladstone,  there  was  no 
"blacker  or  fonler  transaction  in  the  history  of 
mankind.' '  There  merely  remain  to  be  told 
briefly  some  of  the  blessings  which  came  to  Ire- 
land as  a  result  of  the  domestic  legislation  of 
Grattan's  Parliament.  Let  Miss  Murray,  in 
her  historic  book,  "The  Commercial  Relations 
of  Ireland  and  England, ' '  speak  on  our  behalf : 

The  industrial  aspect  of  Ireland  rapidly  changed. 
Ruined  factories  sprang  into  life  and  new  ones  were 
built.  The  old  corn  mills  which  had  ceased  working 
so  long  were  everywhere  busy.  The  populations  of 
the  towns  began  to  increase.  The  standard  of  living 
among  the  artisan  class  rose,  and  even  the  condition 
of  the  peasantry  changed  slightly  for  the  better. 
Dublin,  instead  of  being  sunk  in  decay,  assumed  the 
appearance  of  a  thriving  town.  In  fact,  the  inde- 
pendent Irish  legislature  set  itself  to  promote  the 
material  prosperity  of  the  country  in  every  possible 
way,  and  there  is  no  doubt  its  efforts  had  much  to  say 
to  the  really  surprising  commercial  progress  which 
was  made  from  1780  until  the  years  immediately  pre- 
ceding the  Union.  The  Irish  fisheries  became  the  envy 
and  admiration  of  Great  Britain,  and  agriculture  in- 
creased rapidly.  Various  manufactures  in  Ireland 
began  to  thrive;  the  manufacture  of  hats,  boots  and 
shoes,  of  candles  and  soap,  of  blankets  and  carpets,  of 
woolens,  of  printed  cottons  and  fustians,  of  cabinets 
and  of  glass,  all  sprang  into  importance,  while  linen 


Ireland  Under  Irish  Parliaments       241 

manufacture,  which  had  decayed  during  the  American 
war,  quickly  revived,  and  in  ten  years  the  exports  of 
various  kinds  doubled. 

Such  was  the  condition  of  Ireland  under  the 
blessings  of  a  resident  and  independent  legis- 
lature. The  world  would  do  well  to  realize  that 
civilization  as  a  whole  stands  to  benefit  immeas- 
urably by  the  successful  and  speedy  termina- 
tion of  Ireland's  age-long  fight  against  English 
government  in  Ireland.  That  is  the  one  lesson 
that  Ireland's  checkered  past  teaches  to  those 
who  approach  the  study  of  the  subject  with  an 
open  and  unprejudiced  mind.  The  peace  of 
Europe  and  the  freedom  of  the  seas  are  guar- 
anteed by  a  free  and  prosperous  Ireland. 


CHAPTER  XVI 

THE   WORLD'S   EECOED   BKOKEN  IN   FINANCE 

The  achievements  of  Germany  at  home  are 
fully  as  great  as  her  triumphs  on  the  battle- 
fields of  Europe.  The  stress  of  war  has  brought 
out  the  finest  qualities  of  the  world's  superior 
human  organization.  In  England  the  business 
world  seems  to  be  divided  into  two  classes — 
one  section  self-sacrificing  and  patriotic,  the 
other  working  overtime  to  make  money  out  of 
the  war,  shirking  duty  and  disgracing  their 
country  before  the  world.  In  Russia  we  expect, 
at  all  times,  corrupt  officialdom,  which  does  not 
prevail  in  England,  but  the  spirit  of  greed  has 
long  corroded  the  business  men  of  England,  and 
not  even  the  perils  of  failure  and  invasion  can 
make  them  turn  in  for  universal  patriotic  ser- 
vice and  emulate  or  imitate  the  Germanic  spirit 
of  solidarity. 

Although  Germany  has  been  cut  off  from 
trading  with  the  world  by  British  control  of  the 
seas,  at  the  end  of  the  first  year  of  the  war  her 
business  condition  amazed  all  men  by  the  show- 

242 


The  World's  Record  Broken  in  Finance  243 

ing  of  national  stability  and  the  strength  and 
success  of  her  manufacturing  establishments 
operating  under  the  severest  economic  pressure. 

The  United  States  Consular  and  Trade  Re- 
port for  September  17, 1915,  gives  the  earnings 
of  the  3,788  German  stock  corporations  for  the 
past  year.  The  combined  capital  of  these  com- 
panies is  some  three  billions  of  dollars.  At  the 
end  of  the  year  the  working  capital  had  been 
increased  a  hundred  millions  of  dollars.  The 
average  net  earnings  were  eleven  per  cent.,  as 
against  thirteen  per  cent,  for  the  preceding 
year.  The  average  dividend  declared  was  six 
per  cent. ,  as  against  eight  per  cent,  for  the  year 
previous.  Does  any  American  think  he  could 
find  our  3,788  leading  corporations,  with  our 
country  at  peace,  earning  eleven  per  cent.  ? 

The  much  exploited  Anglo-French  loan  of 
$500,000,000  negotiated  by  American  bankers 
will  scarcely  pay  the  war  expenses  for  ten  days 
of  England  and  France,  as  the  war  is  now  cost- 
ing England  alone  $25,000,000  per  day. 

England,  to  the  wonder  of  the  neutral  world, 
is  also  taking  second  place  to  Germany  in  war 
financing.    Unable  to  liquidate  its  bills,  after  a 


244    What  Could  Germany  Do  For  Ireland? 

year  of  disaster,  England  is  passing  the  plate 
around  in  America,  and  her  commissioners  are 
undergoing  considerable  humiliation.  They 
were  sadly  misled  as  to  the  state  of  public  opin- 
ion in  America.  The  Anglo-American  section 
of  the  press  heralded  their  coming  as  an  assured 
success  the  moment  they  arrived.  They  were 
sure  to  have  a  billion,  or  even  two  billions,  of 
dollars  at  a  low  rate  of  interest,  all  the  notes 
backed  jointly  by  England,  France  and  Russia. 
Hands  across  the  sea  meant  something  more 
than  Yankee  munitions  of  war  at  big  profits  to 
Americans  and  the  constant  draining  of  the 
British  exchequer. 

Of  course,  the  generous  American  capitalists, 
always  mindful  of  the  fate  of  Belgium  and  the 
protection  of  British  arms  for  small  nations, 
might  consider  that  England  was  the  saviour  of 
weak  nations  and  forget  that  the  British  Em- 
pire was  a  confederacy  of  small  nations.  Alas ! 
the  commission  knew  not  Wall  Street,  where 
the  only  nerve  is  the  pocket  nerve.  There  was 
no  popular  interest  in  the  loan,  and  the  public 
would  have  none  of  it.  The  banks  of  the  West 
dare  not  touch  it  because  of  the  feeling  over  the 


The  World's  Record  Broken  in  Finance  245 

proposition  displayed  by  their  depositors.  The 
Irish  depositors  organized  successful  meetings 
at  various  points,  and  there  was  not  one  Irish- 
American  found  who  publicly  endorsed  the  loan. 
The  largest  single  American  manufacturer, 
Henry  Ford,  of  Detroit,  pronounced  the  trans- 
action to  be  the  most  disgraceful  financial  inci- 
dent in  our  history.  Many  of  our  leading  Amer- 
ican citizens  came  forward  and  denounced  the 
loan  as  an  unneutral  and  immoral  act  in  word 
and  deed. 

Russia  was  dropped  from  the  participation — 
a  severe  blow  to  the  original  plan — because  her 
weight  is  crushing  England.  Outside  of  the 
Morgan  interests,  the  Wall  Street  financial 
leaders,  with  few  exceptions,  are  Jews.  The 
railway  magnate,  James  J.  Hill,  of  St.  Paul, 
born  under  the  British  flag,  endeavored  to  line 
up  Jacob  Schiff  for  the  plan.  Mr.  Hill  was  com- 
pelled to  retreat  for  home  in  short  order.  The 
Jews  are  the  most  successful  financiers  in  every 
city  in  the  world,  but  they  never  forget  or  for- 
give the  persecution  of  their  race  or  religion. 
Money  to  Russia  from  the  Jews  would  be  re- 
garded by  them  as  blood  money,  and  the  power 


246    What  Could  Germany  Do  For  Ireland? 

of  British  gold  could  not  pass  the  race  and  re- 
ligious barrier.  Outside  of  the  bankers  inter- 
ested in  munition  plants  and  subsidiary  con- 
cerns, there  was  no  real  American  sympathy 
for  the  loan,  and  with  the  aid  of  German,  Jew- 
ish and  Irish  depositors  the  amount  and  terms 
of  the  loan  were  so  changed  from  the  first  as  to 
be  considered  practically  a  failure,  as  most  of 
the  money  was  supplied  by  munition  directors. 
While  this  negotiation  was  under  way  and 
England  was  still  begging  for  less  onerous 
terms  from  her  United  States  investors,  the  As- 
sociated Press  announced  to  an  expectant  finan- 
cial world  the  result  of  the  third  subscription  in 
Germany,  which  broke  the  world's  record  of  all 
financial  operations.  The  sum  total  of  the  third 
loan  is 

Twelve  Billion  Makks 
Thkee  Thousand  Million  Dollaes 

This  sum  fairly  staggers  the  imagination. 
With  poor  old  Ireland  staggering  now  under  the 
burdens  of  only  $100,000,000  of  the  war  debt, 
what  satanic  leadership  is  it  that  asks  her  un- 
trained peasants  to  stand  up  against  three  thou- 


The  World's  Record  Broken  in  Finance  247 

sand  million  dollars  and  the  42  centimeter  guns 
that  the  Germans  know  so  well  how  to  make  and 
use  from  this  colossal  sum  total  of  funds?  When 
England  declared  war  on  Germany  she  sounded 
the  financial  doom  of  the  British  Empire.  The 
writer  was  ridiculed  in  London  last  fall  for 
stating  that  Germany  would  finance  the  war 
within  her  borders  and  that  England  would  be 
driven  to  ask  for  outside  aid ;  that  the  German 
people,  in  the  mass,  were  more  prosperous, 
thrifty,  capable  and  healthy  than  the  English 
people  crowded  in  cities. 

One  of  the  managers  of  the  Bank  of  Ireland 
in  Dublin  (an  English  concern)  told  us  that 
Germany  could  not  raise  more  than  $3,000,000,- 
000  at  the  utmost,  and  would  be  starved  out  in 
a  year.  The  German  war  loans  total  $6,250,- 
000,000.  The  talk  of  starving  Germany  is 
ended,  while  the  misery  and  living  of  the  fam- 
ilies in  the  single-room,  foul  tenements  of  Dub- 
lin beggar  description. 

The  British  system  of  " muddling  through" 
makes  a  coalition  cabinet  of  discordant  poli- 
ticians a  composite  picture  of  the  people,  lack- 
ing in  training  and  special  knowledge. 


248    What  Could  Germany  Do  For  Ireland? 

Mr.  Lloyd  George  has  many  of  the  political 
qualities  found  in  our  own  William  J.  Bryan. 
The  best  friends  of  the  Commoner  would  not 
suggest  him  for  Secretary  of  the  Treasury. 
Lloyd  George  had  to  give  way  to  McKenna,  an- 
other politician  without  expert  financial  experi- 
ence. Churchill,  a  politician  without  naval 
training,  injuring  the  prestige  of  his  country 
by  naval  breaks  resulting  in  sea  disasters,  is 
forced  out  by  clamor  and  replaced  by  Balfour,  a 
Tory  politician.  Lloyd  George  is  now  in  charge 
of  munition  factories  instead  of  some  great 
business  expert  in  that  line. 

Contrast  the  great  experts  in  each  special 
line  that  make  up  the  German  cabinet  and  the 
German  staff.  A  von  Tirpitz,  a  veritable  child 
of  the  seas,  is  at  the  head  of  the  German  Ad- 
miralty. His  work,  wonderful  inventions  and 
their  consequences  are  seen  every  day  and 
night. 

The  Secretary  of  the  German  Treasury  is  no 
clever  politician  chosen  to  placate  a  faction  in 
the  post  where  the  army  and  navy  would  be  of 
little  avail  should  he  fail.  The  head  of  the  Ger- 
man Imperial  Treasury  is  a  trained  banker, 


The  World's  Record  Broken  in  Finance  249 

perhaps  the  foremost  in  Europe,  director  of  the 
Deutsche  Bank,  which  has  no  counterpart  in 
Europe.  In  one  of  my  works,  "The  King,  the 
Kaiser,  and  Irish  Freedom,"  I  often  quoted  him 
as  an  authority  on  the  material  progress  of  his 
country,  and  his  statement  as  to  the  greatest 
financial  operation  in  the  world's  history  is 
worth  studying  on  the  part  of  every  student  of 
history.    Dr.  Helfferich  said: 

The  present  loan  enables  the  Government  to  liqui- 
date Treasury  bills  taken  over  by  the  Reichsbank  and 
other  banks,  provides  Germany  with  money  for  the 
winter  campaign  and  renders  unnecessary  the  rais- 
ing of  another  loan  before  March. 

England  hitherto  has  raised  $1,062,500,000  and 
Germany  $6,250,000,000  in  long-term  loans,  whereas 
England's  war  expenditures  up  to  the  present  time 
are  hardly  less  than  Germany's,  and  soon  will  ex- 
ceed Germany's.  For  England  is  now  spending 
nearly  $25,000,000  daily  against  Germany's  not  much 
above  $15,000,000.  That  means  that  Germany  is 
spending  25  cents  per  capita  daily,  and  England  55 
cents.  I  doubt,  therefore,  whether  England's  finan- 
ciers possess  confidence  that  their  resources  will  out- 
last ours. 

Everything  said  abroad  about  Germany  putting  on 
pressure  and  using  force  to  secure  subscriptions  to 
the  loan  is  a  pure  invention.  We  appealed  solely  to 
the  financial  power  and  patriotism  of  our  fellow-citi- 
zens. Our  success  must  open  the  world's  eyes  to  a 
recognition  of  how  strong  is  Germany's  financial 
power  and  how  strong  her  will. 

I  am  confident  that  the  success  of  this  loan,  which 


250    What  Could  Germany  Do  For  Ireland? 

proves  that  we  are  standing  firmly  upon  our  own 
feet,  will  contribute  toward  the  good  relations  be- 
tween Germany  and  the  United  States,  notwithstand- 
ing the  Morgan-Holden  incident.  Independence  is 
the  first  word  in  American  history,  as  well  as  the  first 
word  of  true  friendship.  America  cannot  class  us 
among  her  poor  relations. 


ABLE   TO   FIGHT  INDEFINITELY 

Dr.  Helfferich  asserted  that  Germany  was 
able  financially  to  continue  the  war  indefinitely. 
Her  people,  he  said,  were  earning  higher  wages 
and  saving  more  money  than  in  peace  times. 
The  country  was  supplying  its  own  needs  and 
buying  little  abroad,  and  making  no  debts  to 
foreign  countries. 

In  conclusion,  the  Secretary  said  that  a 
shortage  in  supplies  of  some  raw  materials, 
like  cotton  and  wool,  might  cause  inconvenience, 
but  the  people  were  learning  to  economize.  Old 
woolen  clothing  was  being  reworked  into  shoddy 
and  coats  could  be  worn  shorter.  Substitutes 
for  some  materials  were  being  found,  he  added. 

$3,007,500,000  subscribed 

It  is  officially  announced  that  subscriptions  to 
the  third  German  war  loan  have  reached  a  total 


The  World's  Record  Broken  in  Finance  251 

of  $3,007,500,000,  the  Overseas  News  Agency 
says.    The  news  agency  states : 

These  figures,  showing  the  immense  success  of  the 
loan,  will  be  still  further  increased,  as  returns  from 
some  parts  of  the  nation  are  still  to  be  received. 

The  Overseas  News  Agency  added  that  Rob- 
ert J.  Thompson,  for  many  years  American 
consul  at  Hanover,  and  now  living  at  The 
Hague,  had  subscribed  $125,000  to  the  loan. 

Dresden  and  vicinity  subscribed  255,000,000 
marks  ($63,750,000),  as  compared  with  211,000,- 
000  marks  for  the  March  loan.  Cassel  sub- 
scribed 100,000,000  marks,  as  compared  with 
77,000,000  in  March;  the  Duesseldorf  branch  of 
the  Reichsbank,  468,000,000,  as  agaiust  280,000,- 
000;  the  Dortmund  branch,  with  four  adjacent 
offices,  77,000,000,  as  against  32,000,000;  the 
Berlin  Municipal  Savings  Bank,  48,000,000,  as 
against  36,000,000. 

To  illustrate  the  heavy  participation  of  small 
subscribers,  it  is  stated  that  nearly  45,000  de- 
positors of  the  Berlin  Savings  Bank  subscribed 
to  the  loan,  as  compared  with  35,000  in  March. 

In  her  treatment  of  Ireland  the  predominat- 
ing partner  in  the  British  Empire  has  never  ap- 


252    What  Could  Germany  Do  For  Ireland? 

plied  any  of  the  business  principles  that  have 
made  each  German  state  so  powerful  and  pros- 
perous and  willing  to  furnish  the  last  man  for 
the  preservation  of  the  confederacy  of  states. 
There  are  no  pro-German-English  sympathizers 
in  Germany,  secret  or  otherwise,  and  few  rene- 
gade Germans  anywhere.  How  different  the 
feeling  in  many  parts  of  Ireland  and  in  all  parts 
of  America  where  men  and  women  of  Celtic 
blood  abound !  The  unparalleled  success  of  the 
German  loan  was  cheered  at  many  gatherings  of 
the  so-called  " hyphenated' '  pro-German  Irish- 
Americans.  Lloyd  George  said  the  last  $500,- 
000,000  and  the  workshops  of  England  would 
win  the  war.  Germany  has  shown  that  she  pos- 
sesses both  the  skill  and  the  money  to  maintain 
successful  warfare  and  to  subsist,  in  part,  on 
the  lands  of  enemies.  Young  Ireland  can  well 
afford  to  ponder  on  the  causes  which  have  made 
the  German  state  so  prolific  and  created  stand- 
ards of  life  and  patriotism  so  high  that  the  best 
friends  of  England  know  she  never  can  attain 
that  pinnacle.  The  German  philosophy  which 
has  made  possible  these  achievements  in  her 
business   world  is  founded  on  the  following 


The  World's  Record  Broken  in  Finance  253 

principles,  as  expressed  by  the  head  of  the  Ger- 
man Treasury,  Dr.  Karl  Helfferich : 

The  power  that  creates  and  increases  the  wealth  of 
a  people  is  labor — from  the  purely  manual  labor  of 
the  wage-earner  to  the  purely  intellectual  labor  of 
the  scholar. 

The  vehicle  of  labor  is  man,  or — as  regards  the 
whole  state — the  population. 

The  result  of  labor  is  the  production  of  goods. 

The  productivity  of  labor  is  intensified  by  perfect- 
ing technical  equipment  and  organization. 

For  the  people  as  a  whole  the  increased  efficiency 
of  labor  finds  expression  in  the  statistics  of  produc- 
tion, trade,  and  transportation. 

The  final  purpose  of  economic  labor  is  consumption. 

The  surplus  of  goods  produced  over  and  above  the 
necessary  expense  of  production  constitutes  the  in- 
come of  the  people. 

The  surplus  of  the  income  of  the  people  over  their 
consumption  constitutes  the  increment  of  the  public 
well-being. 

The  ideal  economic  development  is  that  a  growing 
population  be  able  to  increase  the  net  efficiency  of 
its  labor,  and  thereby  its  ' '  income, ' '  to  such  a  degree 
that,  at  the  same  time,  a  higher  standard  of  life — in 
other  words,  a  more  plentiful  satisfaction  of  material 
and  intellectual  wants — and  an  enhancement  of  the 
public  wealth  be  attained. 

The  extent  of  the  German  war  achievements 
in  Europe  is  not  to  be  measured  by  the  hun- 
dreds of  thousands  of  miles  of  enemies'  terri- 
tory. More  important  is  the  value  and  charac- 
ter of  the  captured  zones.    In  Russia  the  Ger- 


254    What  Could  Germany  Do  For  Ireland? 

mans  have  taken  over  sixty  per  cent,  of  the  iron, 
steel  and  metal  districts  of  the  country  and 
thirty  per  cent,  of  the  oil.  In  France  they  hold 
eighty-five  per  cent,  of  the  iron  and  steel  supply 
and  sixty  per  cent,  of  the  coal  output,  or  10,- 
000,000  tons  of  coal  per  annum.  They  control 
a  good  part  of  the  machinery  sectors  of  France. 
The  Balkan  drive  gives  them  control  of  new- 
iron  and  steel  territory,  and  copper,  and  in  the 
Black  Sea  district  are  valuable  iron  works.  Be- 
fore the  war  the  German  steel  output  was  550,- 
000  tons  per  month;  at  present  it  has  reached 
1,200,000  tons  per  month.  Military  experts  at 
Washington  agree  that  such  strategy  increases 
German  chances  of  success. 


CHAPTER  XVII 

NEW  LIGHT  ON  THE  CAUSES  OF  THE  WAR 

Sie  haben  mir  das  Schwert  in  die  Hand  gedriickt: 
ich  kann  nicht  anders  (They  have  forced  the  sword 
into  my  hand:  I  cannot  do  otherwise). — Emperor 
William  of  Germany. 

The  writer  was  amazed  last  fall  on  returning 
from  Europe  to  find  that  Great  Britain  had  been 
successful  in  moulding  public  opinion  to  the  firm 
belief  that  England  went  to  war  over  Belgium 
to  save  a  small  nation. 

The  position  of  Germany  was  misrepresented 
in  every  quarter.  The  cutting  of  the  cables 
early  in  the  war  by  England  prevented  Ameri- 
cans from  hearing  the  other  side,  and  when  the 
belated  defence  of  Germany  came  to  hand,  pub- 
lic opinion  was  rigidly  set,  and  even  for  a  time 
many  Germans  believed  that  England  sought 
only  the  rescue  of  Belgium,  and  was  controlled 
by  altruistic  motives. 

The  events  of  the  past  year  and  the  soberness 
of  time  have  raised  the  curtain  somewhat,  and 
there  are  millions  of  doubters  and  scoffers  of 

255 


256    What  Could  Germany  Do  For  Ireland? 

England  on  the  subject  of  Belgium  throughout 
the  United  States  in  the  fall  of  1915,  especially 
as  British  troops  have  invaded  Greece,  despite 
treaties  and  international  law. 

The  American  people  still  have  the  deepest 
sympathy  for  the  sufferings  of  the  people  of 
Belgium,  and  they  are  certain  to  continue  their 
wonderful  charities  which  have  gone  forth  to 
Belgium  from  the  goodness  of  their  hearts. 
But  the  opinion  that  England  went  to  war  over 
Belgium  no  longer  is  general  in  the  United 
States.  An  increasing  number  of  observers 
have  succeeded  in  carrying  the  conviction,  as 
thought  works  itself  clear,  that  the  real  cause 
for  England  declaring  war  on  Germany  was 
caused  by  jealousy  and  envies  arising  from  the 
industrial  and  commercial  triumphs  of  Ger- 
many in  all  parts  of  the  world. 

John  Bull  always  makes  it  a  point  to  be 
ringed  round  with  alliances  and  then  fight  the 
next  strongest  man.  The  history  of  the  past  250 
years  shows  that  England  invariably  has  fought 
to  destroy  her  next  nearest  competitor  in  trade. 

When  Christopher  Columbus  landed  on  the 
island  of  San  Salvador  in  October,  1492,  Spain 


New  Light  on  the  Causes  of  the  War   257 

was  then,  and  remained  for  nearly  two  cen- 
turies, the  dominant  maritime  figure  of  the 
globe.  England  went  to  war  with  Spain,  and 
when  Drake  sent  the  Spanish  Armada  to  the 
bottom  of  the  sea  England  took  the  place  of 
Spain  and  has  held  the  control  of  the  sea  up  to 
the  present.  When  Holland  and  Denmark 
threatened  English  rule  of  the  seas  with  their 
enterprising  competition,  England  destroyed 
the  commerce  of  both  countries.  The  defeat  of 
France  at  the  hands  of  England  on  several  oc- 
casions when  France  had  become  the  second 
strongest  nation  on  the  water  is  well  known  in 
history.  When  France  lost  her  vast  colonies  in 
America  and  the  West  Indies  as  a  result  of  Eng- 
lish naval  victories,  the  star  of  France  set  once 
and  for  all  as  a  great  maritime  power,  which 
was  the  chief  reason  why  France  supported  the 
American  Revolution. 

When,  after  twenty  years  of  successful  com- 
mercial rivalry  with  England  on  the  high  seas, 
the  young  American  merchant  marine  was 
threatening  English  commerce,  with  her  fast 
clippers  penetrating  all  the  harbors  of  the 
world,    England    sought    a   quarrel    with    the 


258    What  Could  Germany  Do  For  Ireland® 

United  States,  which  resulted  in  the  war  of  1812 
and  the  defeat  of  Great  Britain. 

London  has  realized  for  many  years  that  the 
growing  alliance  between  Eussia  and  France 
meant  war  with  Germany.  With  enemies  on 
the  other  side  of  most  of  her  borders,  Germany 
must  find  herself  always  prepared.  As  far  back 
as  February  17, 1887,  the  London  Daily  Stand- 
ard said : 

Eussia  can  afford  to  wait.  So  can  France.  Ger- 
many cannot.  Germany  must  see  to  its  own  safety, 
and  Prince  Bismarck  cannot  reasonably  be  expected 
to  pass  his  declining  days  impotently  watching  the 
silent  conspiracy  for  the  silent  growth  of  the  power 
of  France  and  the  power  of  Russia  against  the  Father- 
land. 

We  are  not  obliged  at  this  late  hour  to  take 
the  opinion  of  American  writers  as  to  the  causes 
of  the  war.  There  is  no  more  courageous  or 
patriotic  man  in  England  than  J.  R.  MacDonald, 
Member  of  Parliament.  In  criticizing  Sir  Ed- 
ward Grey  for  plunging  England  into  a  war 
that  is  neither  just  nor  necessary,  Mr.  MacDon- 
ald said : 

During  the  negotiations  Germany  tried  to  meet  our 
wishes  on  certain  points  so  as  to  secure  our  neutrality. 
Sometimes  her  proposals  were  brusque,  but  no  at- 


New  Light  on  the  Causes  of  the  War   259 

tempt  was  made  by  us  to  negotiate  diplomatically  to 
improve  them.  They  were  all  summarily  rejected  by 
Sir  Edward  Grey.  Finally,  so  anxious  was  Germany 
to  confine  the  limits  of  the  war,  the  German  Ambassa- 
dor asked  Sir  Edward  Grey  to  propose  his  own  con- 
ditions of  neutrality,  and  Sir  Edward  Grey  declined 
to  discuss  the  matter.  This  fact  was  suppressed  by 
Sir  Edward  Grey  and  Mr.  Asquith  in  their  speeches 
in  Parliament.  When  Sir  Edward  Grey  failed  to  se- 
cure peace  between  Germany  and  Russia,  he  worked 
deliberately  to  involve  us  in  the  war,  using  Belgium 
as  his  chief  excuse.  That  is  the  gist  of  the  White 
Paper.  It  proves  quite  conclusively  that  those  who 
were  in  favor  of  neutrality  before  the  second  of 
August  ought  to  have  remained  in  favor  of  it  after 
the  White  Paper  was  published.  That  Sir  Edward 
Grey  should  have  striven  for  European  peace  and 
then,  when  he  failed,  that  he  should  have  striven  with 
equal  determination  to  embroil  Great  Britain,  seems 
contradictory.  But  it  is  not,  and  the  explanation  of 
why  it  is  not  is  the  justification  of  those  of  us  who  for 
the  last  eight  years  have  regarded  Sir  Edward  Grey 
as  a  menace  to  the  peace  of  Europe  and  his  policy  as 
a  misfortune  to  our  country.  What  is  the  explana- 
tion? 

Mr.  MacDonald  said  that  England  had  been 

so  helplessly  committed  to  fight  for  France  and 

Eussia  that  Sir  Edward  Grey  had  to  refuse 

point-blank  every  overture  made  by  Germany  to 

keep  England  out  of  the  conflict. 

He  scoffed  at  the  German  guarantee  to  Belgium  on 
the  ground  that  it  only  secured  the  " integrity' '  of 
the  country  but  not  its  independence;  when  the  ac- 
tual documents  appeared  it  was  found  that  its  inde- 


260    What  Could  Germany  Do  For  Ireland? 

pendence  was  secured  as  well.  And  that  is  not  the 
worst.  The  White  Paper  contains  several  offers 
which  were  made  to  us  by  Germany  aimed  at  securing 
our  neutrality.  None  were  quite  satisfactory  in  their 
form  and  Sir  Edward  Grey  left  the  impression  that 
these  unsatisfactory  proposals  were  all  that  Germany 
made.  Later  on,  the  Prime  Minister  did  the  same. 
Both  withheld  the  full  truth  from  us.  Sir  Edward 
Grey  declined  to  consider  neutrality  on  any  condi- 
tions and  refrained  from  reporting  this  conversation 
to  the  House.  Why  ?  It  was  the  most  important  pro- 
posal that  Germany  made.  Had  this  been  told  by  Sir 
Edward  Grey,  his  speech  could  not  have  worked  up 
a  war  sentiment.  The  hard,  immovable  fact  is  that 
Sir  Edward  Grey  had  so  pledged  the  country  fs  honor 
without  the  country's  knowledge  to  fight  for  France 
or  Russia,  that  he  was  not  in  a  position  even  to  dis- 
cuss neutrality.  That  was  the  state  of  affairs  on  July 
20  and  did  not  arise  from  anything  Germany  did  or 
did  not  do  after  that  date. 

Now,  the  apparent  contradiction  that  the  man  who 
had  worked  for  European  peace  was  at  the  same  time 
the  leader  of  the  war  party  in  the  Cabinet  can  be 
explained.  Sir  Edward  Grey  strove  to  undo  the  re- 
sult of  his  policy  and  keep  Europe  at  peace,  but, 
when  he  failed,  he  found  himself  committed  to  drag- 
ging his  country  into  war. 

The  justifications  offered  are  nothing  but  the  ex- 
cuses which  ministers  can  always  produce  for  mis- 
takes. Let  me  take  the  case  of  Belgium.  It  has  been 
known  for  years  that,  in  the  event  of  a  war  between 
Russia  and  France  on  the  one  hand  and  Germany  on 
the  other,  the  only  possible  military  tactics  for  Ger- 
many to  pursue  were  to  attack  France  hot-foot 
through  Belgium,  and  then  return  to  meet  the  Rus- 
sians. 


New  Light  on  the  Causes  of  the  War    261 

Of  course,  Mr.  MacDonald,  as  a  loyal  citizen 
of  England,  has  said  nothing  which  could  in- 
jure his  country,  since  his  fellow  countrymen 
have  been  forced  to  die  in  the  trenches,  but  he 
is  not  the  only  prominent  Englishman  who 
knows  that  Belgium  served  only  as  a  pretext  for 
England  to  enter  the  war  against  Germany. 
England  had  come  to  an  understanding  with 
France  as  far  back  as  1906  to  take  the  side  of 
France  in  the  event  of  war  with  Germany.  The 
preparations  of  the  British  and  French  army 
officers  and  naval  authorities  have  been  under- 
takings in  common  for  the  past  nine  years.  The 
whole  might  of  the  empire  was  to  be  exercised 
to  the  limit  as  soon  as  Germany  was  at  grips 
with  the  Franco-Eussian  alliance.  England  had 
favored  Japan  in  her  war  with  Russia  through 
the  Japanese  war  loan,  and  she  has  been  forced, 
rather  doubtfully,  to  support  the  determina- 
tion of  Japan  to  oust  Germany  from  China  at 
the  first  opportunity ;  thus  England  was  able  to 
draw  Japan  into  the  alliance  against  Germany. 

As  soon  as  the  star  of  Germany  rose  to  shine 
with  a  peculiar  brilliance  on  the  commercial 
horizon,  English  diplomacy  proceeded  to  make 


262    What  Could  Germany  Bo  For  Ireland? 

ties  everywhere,  including  money  and  news- 
paper arrangements  in  the  United  States. 

In  the  administration  of  President  Eoosevelt, 
when  the  late  John  Hay  was  Secretary  of 
State,  British  diplomacy,  aided  by  the  leading 
American  newspapers,  almost  succeeded  in 
passing  a  treaty  with  the  United  States  which, 
like  the  arrangement  of  England  with  France, 
would  practically  have  made  the  United  States 
an  avowed  ally  of  Great  Britain,  and  this  coun- 
try would  have  been  expected,  by  the  terms  of 
that  treaty,  to  have  taken  the  side  of  England 
in  her  present  war  with  Germany.  In  the  me- 
moirs of  Secretary  of  State  John  Hay,  pub- 
lished in  Harper's  Monthly,  August,  1915,  Mr. 
Hay  gives  the  credit  to  the  Irish- American  so- 
cieties for  the  defeat  of  this  infamous  treaty  in 
the  United  States  Senate. 

All  the  evidence  of  British  diplomacy 
throughout  the  world  for  the  past  decade  tends 
to  support  the  conviction  that  she  was  getting 
ready  for  war  with  Germany.  While  the  sol- 
diers of  the  regular  English  army  have  been 
maintained  in  times  of  peace  at  not  more  than 
300,000  in  number,  which,  on  the  face  of  it,  ap- 


New  Light  on  the  Causes  of  the  War   263 

pears  like  a  state  of  unpreparedness,  we  must 
always  remember  that  England  depends  on  her 
navy  to  sweep  the  seas  and  upon  her  allies  to 
furnish  the  maximum  of  fighting  men  on  the 
Continent.  In  none  of  the  wars  on  the  Con- 
tinent has  England  sent  large  armies  until  now. 
She  has  always  relied  on  the  strength  of  her 
invincible  navy,  her  vast  riches,  colonies  and 
diplomacy.  The  combined  annual  naval  and 
military  appropriations  of  England  have  fully 
equaled  the  German  budget.  Whenever  Ger- 
many would  proceed  to  build  one  battleship  or 
other  vessel  of  war,  England  would  proceed  to 
build  two.  It  is  not  generally  known  today  that 
England  has  three  times  as  many  submarines  as 
Germany.  The  writer  has  talked  with  British 
army  and  naval  officers  at  various  times  within, 
the  last  dozen  years,  and  has  even  heard  them 
say  that  war  with  Germany  was  inevitable.  At 
the  time  of  the  Boer  War  the  English  diplomats 
were  counting  on  a  struggle  with  Germany.  If 
Germany  wanted  war  with  England,  she  could 
easily  have  taken  advantage  of  her  necessities 
in  the  Boer  War  before  her  alliance  with  France 
was  completed  and  when  England  was  suffering 


264    What  Could  Germany  Do  For  Ireland? 

at  the  hands  of  the  Boers.  If  Germany  had 
seized  this  opportunity,  she  would  have  de- 
feated England  and  saved  the  Boer  Republic. 
Her  failure  to  save  the  Boers,  who  were  people 
of  her  blood,  is  chiefly  responsible  for  the  pres- 
ent failure  of  the  De  Wet  uprising  in  South 
Africa.  If  Germany  had  gone  to  the  rescue  of 
the  Boers,  she  would  today  have  been  able  to 
save  her  colonies  in  Africa,  which  have  been  lost 
to  her,  temporarily  at  least.  England  has  given 
to  the  Boers  a  fair  measure  of  home  rule,  which, 
combined  with  the  declaration  of  Botha  that 
Germany  might  have  saved  the  Boer  Eepublic 
in  1900,  has  done  much  to  keep  the  Boers  from 
joining  the  revolution.  When  the  writer  was  in 
Dublin  in  the  year  1900,  returning  army  officers 
were  counting  on  increasing  the  number  of 
troops  to  keep  Ireland  in  order,  as  many  of  the 
people  of  Ireland  were  active  sympathizers  and 
supporters  of  the  Boers. 

Germany,  as  an  ally  of  Austria-Hungary, 
could  not  in  good  faith  desert  the  Dual  Empire 
and  turn  the  plains  of  Hungary  over  to  the  Rus- 
sian hosts.  The  heir  to  the  Austro-Hungarian 
throne  had  been  foully  murdered  by  the  Ser- 


New  Light  on  the  Causes  of  the  War    265 

vians,  who  had  butchered  their  own  king  and 
queen  in  bed.  Germany  said  the  Servian  issue 
should  be  localized.  Sir  Edward  Grey  knew 
full  well  that  Germany  could  never  consent  to 
his  invitation  to  have  a  conference  on  the  issue 
between  Austria-Hungary  and  Servia,  a  plan 
which  had  been  rejected  by  Russia.  And  Sir 
Edward  Grey  had  already  informed  the  German 
ambassador  that  England  would  take  the  side 
of  France  if  France  entered  the  war,  under  the 
entente  cordial,  knowing  full  well  that  France 
must  align  herself  with  Russia  if  war  was  de- 
clared on  the  great  empire  north  of  Germany. 
In  fact,  Russia  began  the  mobilization  of  her 
army  on  July  24, 1914.  On  that  very  day,  more 
than  a  week  before  England  declared  war,  the 
English  fleet  was  concentrated  and  ready  for 
action,  and  French  mobilization  was  also  started 
on  July  24th.  Germany  was  the  last  to  mobi- 
lize, so  that  there  is  absolutely  no  question  but 
that  England  would  have  gone  to  war  with  Ger- 
many regardless  of  Belgian  neutrality.  She 
has  always  been  lucky  in  a  hypocritical  plea  for 
war  in  the  name  of  "morals  and  justice."  In 
this  way  she  has  gobbled  up  most  of  the  lands 


266    What  Could  Germany  Do  For  Ireland? 

which  have  given  her  wealth  and  strength  in 
this  war.  The  Eoman  colonies  were  unable  to 
save  Eome  when  the  end  of  her  destiny  had 
come,  and  history  may  be  repeated  in  the  pres- 
ent desperate  case  of  England.  France  would 
never  have  gone  to  war  if  she  was  not  assured 
in  advance  of  the  support  of  England.  Sir  Ed- 
ward Grey  said  that  England  would  have  im- 
periled her  honor  and  reputation  if  she  failed 
her  ally,  France,  later,  in  the  game  of  slaughter 
that  prevailed  on  August  3,  1914.  England 
pleaded  the  excuse  of  Belgian  neutrality  for  en- 
tering the  fray.  There  is  no  doubt  but  that 
Germany  was  convinced  that  France  had  pre- 
viously agreed  with  Belgium  to  concentrate 
French  troops  in  the  vicinity  of  the  fortress  of 
Namur.  Germany  offered  Belgium  safety,  in- 
dependence and  indemnity,  but  Belgium  was 
practically  threatened  with  destruction  by  Eng- 
land, in  a  message  from  Sir  Edward  Grey,  if 
she  yielded  to  Germany.  Her  ties,  blood  and 
language  were  French — she  was  to  be  destroyed 
either  way. 

When  war  was  about  to  be  declared,  George 
Bernard  Shaw,  the  foremost  man  of  letters  in 


New  Light  on  the  Causes  of  the  War    267 

England,  said  the  Belgium  excuse  was  a  fraud 

and  a  sham.    The  London  Times  said  (weekly 

issue  of  March  12,  1915) : 

Herr  von  Bethmann-Hollweg  is  quite  right.  Even 
had  Germany  not  invaded  Belgium,  honor  and  inter- 
est would  have  united  us  with  France.  For  an  im- 
pervious reason  of  self-interest  we  keep  our  word 
when  we  have  given  it,  but  we  do  not  give  it  without 
solid  practical  reasons,  and  we  do  not  set  up  to  be 
international  Don  Quixotes,  ready  at  all  times  to  re- 
dress wrongs  which  do  us  no  hurt.  We  joined  the 
Triple  Entente  because  we  realized  that  the  time  of 
splendid  isolation  was  no  more. 

Writes  Sir  Henry  Lucy  in  the  New  York 
Evening  Sun,  in  August,  1915 : 

Writing  to  me  during  the  first  week  of  the  war, 
Lord  Fisher  spoke  enthusiastically  of  Winston 
Churchill's  work  at  the  Admiralty.  ''I  am,"  he 
wrote,  "in  close  touch  with  Winston.  He  has  been 
splendid  for  three  things — first,  the  appointment  to 
the  command  of  the  fleet  of  Jellicoe,  a  comparatively 
young  admiral;  second,  mobilizing  before  war  was 
declared;  third,  buying  the  two  Turkish  dreadnoughts 
approaching  completion  in  a  British  dockyard.' ' 

The  appointment  of  Admiral  Jellicoe  has  been  jus- 
tified by  the  action  of  the  navy  during  the  past  seven 
months. 

Mobilization  of  the  fleet  before  the  war  upon,  the 
innocent  pretext  of  an  expected  visit  from  the  King 
was  clever  strategy  that  found  the  grand  fleet  op- 
portunely in  the  North  Sea  when,  a  few  days  later, 
war  was  declared,  with  the  result  of  bottling  up  the 
German  fleet  in  the  helpless  condition  in  which  it 
remains  to  this  day. 


268    What  Could  Germany  Do  For  Ireland? 

The  consequence  of  the  prompt  assertion  of  right 
to  commandeer  the  two  first-class  battleships,  delivery 
of  which  Turkey  was  eagerly  expecting,  appears,  on 
reflection  upon  the  mischief  they  might  have  done 
since  Turkey  joined  hands  with  Germany  and  Aus- 
tria, and  more  especially  in  the  present  situation  at 
the  Dardanelles. 


American  students  of  history  are  not  carried 
away  by  the  popular  feeling  in  the  United 
States  that  England  went  to  war  to  save  the 
little  state  of  Belgium.  Nowhere  in  world  his- 
tory has  England  furnished  any  precedent  for 
such  sacrifice.  The  British  Empire  is  com- 
posed of  crushed  small  nations  whose  liberties 
were  originally  destroyed  by  England  in  her 
consuming  struggle  for  world  power.  The 
people  of  this  country  do  not  readily  forget  the 
fact  that  our  own  freedom  and  independence 
was  won  from  England,  and  that  we  owe  less  to 
her  for  our  own  strength  than  any  country  in 
Europe.  History  teaches  us  that  England  al- 
ways finds  a  moral  excuse  for  fighting  the  next 
strongest  country  and  the  nearest  competitor 
to  her  on  the  high  seas. 

The  Spaniards  were  courageous  and  enter- 
prising, and  they  were  the  world's  greatest 


New  Light  on  the  Causes  of  the  War    269 

navigators,  but  they  had  become  enervated  with 
wealth  and  ease  towards  the  end  of  the  six- 
teenth century;  and  when  Drake  defeated  the 
Spanish  Armada,  in  the  reign  of  Queen  Eliza- 
beth, and  pillaged  Spain  of  her  small  state,  then 
England  began  to  dominate  the  high  seas. 
Then  came  the  sturdy  and  patient  mariners  of 
Holland,  who  developed  a  great  commerce  in 
the  East  Indies.  Their  merchant  marine  con- 
trolled the  commerce  which  England  coveted, 
and  England  did  not  hesitate  to  destroy  this 
small  nation. 

In  1812  the  famous  American  clipper  ships 
excited  the  envy  of  England  and  she  attempted 
to  drive  our  flag  from  the  high  seas,  until  An- 
drew Jackson,  the  son  of  an  Irish  linen  weaver 
from  Carrick  Fergus,  drove  the  last  British  sol- 
dier out  of  the  country. 

England  always  fights  the  next  strongest 
country,  and  will  prove  unfriendly  to  the  United 
States  just  as  certainly  as  we  succeed  in  devel- 
oping a  powerful  merchant  marine.  England 
would  never  have  declared  war  on  Germany  if 
the  latter  country  had  not  threatened  the  com- 
merce of  England  in  all  parts  of  the  world. 


270    What  Could  Germany  Do  For  Ireland? 

The  Irish  people  are  generous  and  hospitable, 
often  too  soft-hearted.  They  have  their  weak- 
nesses and  defects  of  character,  which  are  ad- 
mitted by  a  number  of  their  own  writers.  They 
are  most  good-hearted  and  kind  to  sufferers, 
though  they  be  strangers.  A  common  saying 
among  Americans  is:  "When  I  am  sick,  I  want 
to  have  Irish  neighbors.' '  They  know  the  bit- 
terness of  poverty,  and  the  real  good  ones  would 
share  their  last  crust  with  the  stranger.  Hos- 
pitality and  kindness  are  two  of  their  finest 
qualities,  and  proverbial.  It  is  natural  for  these 
kind-hearted  people  to  feel  for  the  sufferings 
of  others  and  to  forget  their  own  wrongs  and 
hardships.  This  national  characteristic  is  fit- 
tingly shown  in  the  lines  of  the  poet  0  'Reilly : 

What  Is  Good? 
What  is  real  good  ? 
I  ask,  in  musing  mood. 
"Order/'  said  the  law  court, 

1 '  Knowledge, ' '  said  the  school, 
"Truth,"  said  the  wise  man, 

' '  Pleasure, ' '  said  the  fool, 
"Love,"  said  the  maiden, 

"Beauty,"  said  the  page, 
"Freedom,"  said  the  dreamer, 

"Home,"  said  the  sage, 
' '  Fame, ' '  said  the  soldier, 

1 '  Equity, ' '  said  the  sire — 


New  Light  on  the  Causes  of  the  War    271 

And  speak  my  heart  sadly, 

The  answer  is  not  here. 
Then  within  my  bosom 

Softly  this  I  heard: 
Each  heart  holds  the  secret, 

"Kindness"  is  the  word. 

Hence  it  is  that  very  many  persons  in  Ire- 
land are  so  absorbed  in  sorrowing  over  the  fate 
of  Belgium  and  so  saddened  and  depressed  by 
the  daily  accounts  of  "Belgian  atrocities  by 
Germans,"  that  they  will  not  be  reminded  of 
the  pages  of  700  years  of  their  country's  his- 
tory. There  is  no  Irish  news  service.  All  of 
the  news  printed  in  Ireland  about  the  war  is 
press  censored  and  sent  over  from  London.  As 
an  instance,  the  newspapers  of  Ireland  have 
not  yet  printed  the  news  of  the  sinking  of  the 
super-dreadnought  battleship  ' '  Audacious, ' '  al- 
though a  year  old.  The  vessel  being  sunk  off 
Lough  Swilly,  Donegal,  was  known  to  many  na- 
tives and  naturally  was  of  great  local  news  in- 
terest. The  only  news  they  are  permitted  to 
read  is  of  a  character  intended  to  excite  their 
hearts  against  the  Germans.  These  are  lying 
tales  of  atrocities,  alleged  heinous  attacks  on 
priests,  nuns,  churches  and  hospitals.    Early  in 


272    What  Could  Germany  Do  For  Ireland? 

the  war  the  United  States  was  fed  on  the  same 

stuff,  but  the  enterprise  of  the  leading  American 

news  services  sent  their  trained  journalists  to 

Belgium,  who,  together  with  such  well-known 

writers  as  John  T.  McCutcheon,  James  O'Don- 

nell  Bennett,  Irvin  S.  Cobb,  and  just  recently 

returned  Professor  George  B.   McClellan,  of 

Princeton  University,  former  Mayor  of  New 

New  York  City,  have  repudiated,  in  the  interest 

of  truth  and  justice,  most  of  the  cruel  stories 

which  continue  to  fill  the  Irish  newspapers. 

The  good-hearted  peasantry  have  not  only  been 

taken  in  by  the  "atrocity  game,"  but  they  are 

wholly  unaware  of  the  fact  that  Germany  was 

justified  in  invading  Belgium  for  the  following 

reasons : 

No.  I. — Documents  have  been  discovered  in  the 
Foreign  Affairs  offices  marked  confidential,  in  the 
handwriting  of  their  counsel,  which  show  that  Eng- 
land would  have  dispatched  troops  to  Belgium  at 
once,  without  being  asked  for  English  assistance. 

No.  II. — England  agreed  with  Belgium  in  1912  to 
dispatch  160,000  troops  as  an  ally  of  Belgium. 

No.  III.— In  August,  1913,  Field-Marshal  Roberts 
said :  ' '  Our  forces  are  ready  to  embark  instantly  for 
Flanders  to  maintain  the  balance  of  power  in 
Europe.' ' 

No.  IV. — Proof  has  been  submitted  showing  that 


New  Light  on  the  Causes  of  the  War   273 

Belgium,  before  the  war,  was  a  member  of  the  coali- 
tion against  Germany. 

No.  V. — The  plans  for  the  French  mobilization  pre- 
pared before  the  war  include  this  sentence:  "The 
First  Army  unites  with  the  English  and  Belgian 
armies  and,  after  passing  through  Belgium,  occupies 
Cologne  and  Coblenz,  and  opposes  the  German  forces 
advancing  from  Northern  Germany." 

No.  VI. — Germany  was  compelled  to  strike  through 
Belgium  or  allow  her  enemy  to  assail  her  on  the  wholly 
unprotected  Belgian  frontier,  risking  the  loss  of  Ger- 
many's most  important  coal  and  iron  industries. 

No.  VII. — After  careful  consideration  by  a  num- 
ber of  eminent  American  professors  and  other  author- 
ities on  international  law,  the  opinion  is  gaining 
ground  in  this  country  that,  Germany  having  merely 
asked  for  passage  through  Belgium,  assuring  her 
integrity  and  independence,  there  was  no  violation  of 
neutrality,  and  that  the  course  of  Belgium,  in  view  of 
the  publication  of  later  documents,  proves  that  Bel- 
gium entered  the  war  as  an  ally  of  France  and  Eng- 
land. 

The  small  army  which  England  sent  to  the  re- 
lief of  Belgium  discredits  her  as  the  so-called 
champion  of  small  nations.  The  great  army 
promised  Belgium  if  she  resisted  the  invasion 
never  arrived,  while  the  brave  Walloons  per- 
ished. The  Antwerp  fiasco  is  exposed  to  the 
world  as  desertion  of  the  little  country  forced 
into  the  war  by  England  and  destroyed. 


CHAPTER  XVm 

HOPES  AND  FEAKS 

Despotism  is  out  of  date.  We  can  govern  India; 
we  cannot  govern  Ireland. 

Be  it  so.  Then  let  Ireland  be  free.  She  is  miserable 
because  she  is  unruled.  We  might  rule  her,  but  we 
will  not,  lest  our  arrangements  at  home  might  be  in- 
terfered with.  We  cannot  keep  a  people  chained  to  us 
to  be  perennially  wretched  because  it  is  inconvenient 
for  us  to  keep  order  among  them.  In  an  independent 
Ireland  the  ablest  and  strongest  would  come  to  the 
front,  and  the  baser  elements  be  crushed.  The  state 
of  things  which  would  ensue  might  not  be  satisfactory 
to  us,  but  at  least  there  would  be  no  longer  the  inver- 
sion of  the  natural  order  which  is  maintained  by  the 
English  connection  and  the  compelled  slavery  of  edu- 
cation and  intelligence  to  the  numerical  majority. 
This,  too,  is  called  impossible — yet,  if  we  will  neither 
rule  Ireland  nor  allow  the  Irish  to  rule  themselves, 
nature  and  fact  may  tell  us  that,  whether  we  will  or 
no,  an  experiment  that  has  lasted  for  seven  hundred 
years  shall  be  tried  no  longer. — James  A.  Froude: 
History  of  the  English  in  Ireland,  vol.  iii.,  pp.  584, 
585. 

We  have  been  told  since  childhood  that  the  sole 
hope  of  Irish  liberty  depended  on  the  perils  of 
the  British  Empire  when  engaged  in  a  great 
Continental  war.  The  emergencies  of  England 
would  create  the  Irish  opportunity.    Outnum- 

274 


Hopes  and  Fears  275 

bered  ten  to  one,  the  Celt  must  succumb  to  the 
Saxon  until  the  latter  was  drawn  into  battles 
with  the  great  powers.  That  day  has  come  at 
last.  The  histories  of  Ireland  should  be  taken 
from  our  homes  and  destroyed  if  this  plain  phe- 
nomenon fails  of  recognition  on  the  part  of  a 
dying  race.  All  of  the  patriotic  effort  of  cen- 
turies is  lost  if  the  remnants  of  a  people  fail  in 
this  crisis  to  grasp  the  last  opportunity  for  free- 
dom that  will  ever  be  afforded  them.  The  Irish 
race  as  a  distinct  race  passes  off  the  face  of  the 
earth  as  certainly  as  Erin  is  turned  into  a  West 
British  province.  At  the  present  time  Ireland 
is  more  than  one-fourth  English  in  numbers  and 
largely  English  in  business  and  society.  With 
England  gaining  year  by  year  so  enormously  in 
population  and  wealth,  and  Ireland  sinking  and 
receding,  the  day  is  not  far  distant  when  the 
Irish  national  character  will  have  disappeared 
and  our  children,  after  a  few  decades,  will  read 
the  legends  and  traditions  of  a  dead  race  with 
about  as  much  curiosity  and  sympathetic  in- 
terest as  we  read  today  of  the  lost  American 
Indian  tribes.  Economic  and  political  decay 
will  hasten  the  end  of  pure  Irish  art,  manners, 


276    What  Could  Germany  Do  For  Ireland? 

customs  and  literature.  Her  birth  rate  is  alarm- 
ingly low ;  the  most  robust  and  ambitious  young, 
virile  men  and  women  have  left  her  shores, 
never  to  return,  leaving  the  weak  and  poorest 
of  the  stock  as  the  majority  of  the  remnants  of 
a  decaying  race  to  face  a  rapidly  changing  com- 
plex economic  system,  before  which  crushing 
forces  few  survive  in  the  fierce  competition  of 
the  wealth  and  power  of  her  neighbor.  Ireland 
cannot  stand  alone.  To  live  and  prosper  and 
occupy  a  real  place  in  the  world's  affairs,  she 
must  become  an  integral  part  of  an  alliance 
composed  of  strong  nations. 

Michael  Davitt  is  the  father  of  the  land  act, 
the  laws  which  have  at  last  given  the  natives  of 
Ireland  an  opportunity  to  buy  and  own  the  land 
of  their  country.  In  his  work,  "The  Fall  of 
Feudalism,' f  Mr.  Davitt  writes: 

Why  should  we  be  denied,  as  a  people,  the  freedom 
which  has  made  the  small  nations  of  Europe  peace- 
ful, prosperous,  and  progressive?  We  have  com- 
mitted no  crime  against  mankind  or  civilization  which 
should  deprive  us  of  these  blessings.  Small  nations 
have  been  the  truest  pioneers  of  progress,  and  the 
best  promoters  of  the  arts  and  sciences,  in  the  evolu- 
tion of  society,  from  the  Middle  Ages  to  the  present 
day.  It  is  a  common  mistake  to  refer  to  Germany  as 
an  empire  in  the  sense  in  which  either  Russia  or  Great 


Hopes  and  Fears  277 

Britain  is  an  empire.  It  is  nothing  of  the  kind.  It 
is  a  confederation  of  small  states  for  defensive  pur- 
poses, each  state  being  as  free  and  independent  in  all 
matters  of  national  life  and  administration  as  if  the 
German  Empire  had  no  existence.  Bavaria,  Saxony, 
Wurtemberg,  Baden,  are  nations  with  their  own  legis- 
latures like  that  of  Prussia.  This  is  why  they  are 
steadily  developing  in  wealth  and  keeping  in  line  with 
the  general  advance  of  other  countries  enjoying  the 
rights  and  blessing  of  national  freedom. 

There  is  not  one  of  the  belligerent  nations, 
great  or  small,  but  claims  to  be  defending  na- 
tional ideals  and  aspirations.  The  principles  of 
Irish  nationality  are  the  arches  on  which  pri- 
marily rest  all  Irish  social  effort.  This  faith 
is  the  corner-stone  of  the  Ancient  Order  of  Hi- 
bernians '  structural  organization  in  America, 
which  body  (200,000  members)  condemns  the 
advocates  of  recruiting  in  Ireland.  This  may 
be  said  to  be  the  same  view  taken  by  practically 
all  of  the  important  and  successful  patriotic  and 
benevolent  Irish  organizations  in  the  United 
States.  The  writer  received  upward  of  1,200 
letters  of  endorsement  from  the  clergy  on  his 
book,  "The  King,  the  Kaiser,  and  Irish  Free- 
dom, ' '  and  they  must  have  spoken  the  views  of 
most  of  their  parishioners. 

Michael  Davitt  was  a  leader  of  Ireland  who 


278    What  Could  Germany  Do  For  Ireland? 

spurned  public  office  and  social  influence  be- 
cause he  saw  they  were  rocks  on  which  many 
parliamentarians  had  been  dashed.  He  did  not 
go  so  far  as  Dean  Swift,  who  said,  ' '  Burn  every- 
thing English  except  her  coal,"  but  to  the  end 
he  realized  there  could  be  nothing  in  common 
between  the  two  nations  so  far  as  national  aspi- 
rations were  concerned.  Davitt  had  seen  much 
of  England,  Ireland  and  the  United  States.  In 
1846  he  saw  his  father  and  mother  evicted  from 
their  home  by  British  soldiers  and  left  on  the 
roadside  to  starve.  He  saw  them  begging  for 
bread  on  the  streets  of  English  cities.  As  a 
child  he  lost  his  right  arm  in  an  English  fac- 
tory. In  the  year  1870  he  was  sentenced  to 
fifteen  years  at  hard  labor  in  prison,  released 
in  1877,  settled  in  Brooklyn,  New  York,  and 
there  planned  the  land  movement,  which 
brought  into  being  the  great  Land  League, 
which  raised  several  millions  of  dollars  in  the 
United  States  and  went  a  long  way  towards  the 
destruction  of  feudalism  in  the  Green  Isle,  and 
once  again  revived  and  saved  the  spirit  of  Irish 
nationality. 

My  own  views  have  not  changed  after  thirty 


Hopes  and  Fears  279 

years'  study  of  the  relations  of  the  two  peoples. 
They  were  expressed  in  an  address  made  by  the 
present  writer  at  Chicago  on  August  15,  1891, 
a  day  of  celebration  which  represented  the  two 
dominant  and  indestructible  features  of  the 
Celtic  character — religion  and  patriotism.  I 
said  to  the  meeting : 

A  separate  Irish  party  could  not  have  survived 
without  the  practical  aid  of  the  devoted  men  and 
women  on  this  side.  We  yield  to  the  party  on  tactics 
but  never  on  principle.  If  they  betray  the  cause  of 
Emmet,  of  Tone,  of  Mitchel,  we  shall  live  to  destroy 
them.  If  England  is  threatened  by  the  fate  that  has 
overtaken  all  world  powers,  there  must  be  left  Celts 
who  will  save  their  own  land  from  the  common  fate 
of  such  empires.  Irish  freedom  and  liberty  hold  a 
deeper  meaning  for  us  than  mere  pride  in  a  senti- 
ment. No  individual  benefit  will  come  to  any  Ameri- 
can from  the  success  of  the  cause  of  the  old  land. 
Some  of  our  most  talented  men  and  women  have  be- 
come impoverished  working  their  lives  out  in  this 
cause,  hoping  to  see  the  light  of  the  beacon  fires  of 
freedom  burning  on  the  shores  of  the  Emerald  Isle. 

And  now,  men  of  Chicago,  a  word  on  the  present 
Irish  question.  Five  years  ago,  in  this  great  city,  in 
this  same  Ogden's  Grove,  a  multitude  of  Irish-Ameri- 
cans, numbering  fully  30,000,  listened  to  words  of 
hope  from  the  lips  of  a  true  patriot — Michael  Davitt. 
Have  those  bright  promises  and  hopeful  prognostica- 
tions been  fulfilled?  Are  the  Irish  people  an  inch 
nearer  the  goal  of  freedom?  I  point  to  the  present 
condition  of  Ireland  for  my  answer.  The  depopula- 
tion of  her  towns  and  cities  has  continued.  The  Home 
Rule  proposition  means  a  local,  parochial  government 


280    What  Could  Germany  Do  For  Ireland? 

only,  with  no  commercial  advantages  to  the  country. 
For  the  sake  of  ameliorating  the  wretched  conditions 
we  favor  accepting  any  measure  which  offers  relief. 
But  as  Irish  Nationalists  we  repudiate  and  reject  any 
such  measure  if  offered  as  a  final  settlement  of  the 
immense  debt  of  justice  due  the  Irish  nation  from 
Great  Britain.  Ireland  will  never  stand  among  the 
nations  of  the  earth  until  she  makes  her  own  laws,  in 
her  own  Parliament,  in  her  own  country,  free  from 
English  interference.  This  is  the  cardinal  doctrine 
of  Irish  Nationalism. 

Then  let  us  close  up  the  ranks,  one  for  all,  all  for 
one.  Let  us  be  true  to  the  memory  of  Robert  Em- 
met and  the  cause  of  freedom.  And  never  forget  the 
cause  of  Irish  liberty,  which  ever  reverberates  in  our 
ears  from  the  clanging  of  the  chains  in  the  prison 
dungeon  to  the  dying  benediction  of  "God  Save  Ire- 
land" on  the  scaffold  at  Manchester. 


Some  allowance  is  made  for  the  fervent  boy- 
ish diction  nearly  a  quarter  of  a  century  old, 
but  since  that  year  the  writer  has  travelled 
widely,  studied  the  question  of  an  Irish  nation 
from  many  viewpoints,  national  and  interna- 
tional, and  is  firm  in  the  faith  that  Ireland  can 
never  hope  to  be  saved  except  through  being 
separated  from  England.  The  Home  Rule  bill 
is  a  mockery  of  independence  in  the  face  of  the 
possibility  that  the  highest  national  aspirations 
might  be  realized  if  the  people  were  led  by  pa- 
triots of  the  old  American  Revolutionary  type. 


Ropes  and  Fears  281 

The  most  brilliant  galaxy  of  young  men  and 
women  of  Ireland  were  the  revolutionists  of 
1848.  They  were  republicans  like  the  Giron- 
dists, and  imbued  with  the  spirit  and  prin- 
ciples of  the  American  they  loved  the  most — 
George  Washington.  They  were  men  of  action, 
courageous  to  the  last  degree  in  the  shadow  of 
the  scaffold,  dying  in  dark  dungeons  or  starv- 
ing on  the  hillsides  for  the  eternal  cause  of  free- 
dom. They  were  sent  to  convict  settlements  at 
the  far  ends  of  the  earth,  but  in  other  lands 
these  children  of  genius  rose  to  eminence. 
Their  revolt  and  rebellion  were  short-lived,  but 
their  labors  and  inspiration  have  not  been  in 
vain. 

Washington  led  a  successful  revolution 
finally  against  England  and  he  lives  for  all  time 
in  the  hearts  of  his  countrymen.  Failure  would 
have  meant  his  death  at  the  hands  of  the  hang- 
man, the  fate  of  Robert  Emmet. 

John  Mitchel  was  born  in  County  Derry, 
Ulster,  November,  1815,  and  died  in  Cork  in 
1875,  sending  his  last  message  to  loyal  old  Tip- 
perary,  which  county  elected  him  to  Parliament 
in  his  closing  days.    He  was  the  son  of  a  Protes- 


282    What  Could  Germany  Do  For  Ireland? 

tant  clergyman,  educated  at  Trinity  College, 
Dublin,  and  when  his  friend  Thomas  Davis  died 
he  became  editor  of  the  Dublin  Nation.  It  was 
Davis  who  wrote: 

What  matter  that  at  different  shrines 

We  pray  unto  one  God? 
What  matter  that  at  different  times 

Our  fathers  won  this  sod? 

In  fortune  and  in  name  we're  bound 

By  stronger  links  than  steel ; 
And  neither  can  be  safe  or  sound 

But  in  the  other 's  weal. 

And  oh,  it  were  a  gallant  deed 

To  show  before  mankind 
How  every  race  and  every  creed 

Might  be  by  love  combined ! 

John  Mitchel  held  that  England  would  never 
grant  freedom  to  Ireland  except  through  fear 
and  compulsion.  Events  have  proven  the 
soundness  of  his  opinions.  His  name  is,  next  to 
Emmet,  engraven  on  true  hearts.  When  sen- 
tenced to  14  years'  transportation  across  the 
seas  to  convict  colonies,  he  made  answers  to  his 
judges  which  live  to  start  the  watchfires  of 
liberty  blazing.  We  think  of  his  invocation  to 
his   countrymen   as   he   was   removed   to   the 


Hopes  and  Fears  283 

steamer,  manacled  with  heavy  chains  fastened 
to  his  arms  and  his  limbs : 

The  game  is  afoot  at  last.  The  liberty  of  Ireland 
may  come  sooner  or  later,  by  peaceful  negotiation  or 
bloody  conflict,  but  it  is  sure. 

Emmet,  Tone,  Mitchel,  Martin,  Meagher, 
Eossa,  all  true  patriots,  were  in  a  minority  in 
their  own  country,  and  yet  they  left  the  only 
enduring  monuments.  We  forget  that  Patrick 
Henry  and  Thomas  Jefferson  were  leaders  of 
a  minority  who  effected  successful  revolution 
and  established  the  republic.  Woodrow  Wil- 
son, writing  of  the  early  works  of  his  prede- 
cessors in  the  White  House,  says: 

It  is  the  familiar  story  of  revolution ;  the  active  and 
efficient  concert  of  a  comparatively  small  number  at 
a  moment  of  doubt  and  crisis. 

Those  who  study  the  great  conflagration 
which  convulses  the  world  must  perceive  that 
the  awful  struggle  is  for  the  power  and  survival 
of  races.  Where  lies  the  interest  of  the  Irish 
race  when  at  the  end  either  England  or  Ger- 
many shall  dominate  three-fourths  of  the  earth  ? 

There  are  60,000  British  troops  under  arms 
in  Ireland.    There  is,  on  the  average,  a  standing 


284    What  Could  Germany  Do  For  Ireland? 

army  of  some  30,000  guarding  the  island  in 
times  of  peace.  Mr.  John  Redmond,  leader  of 
the  Irish  party  in  the  House  of  Commons,  made 
a  great  hit  in  that  body  and  in  England  when 
he  declared  that  this  standing  army  could  safely 
leave  Ireland  and  fight  for  the  empire  in  Flan- 
ders, and  thus  help  to  save  Belgium,  and  urged 
the  government  to  arm  the  Irish  Volunteers, 
who  would  defend  the  shores  of  Erin  and  perish 
to  the  last  man  rather  than  let  the  dreaded  Ger- 
man invaders  land  on  their  soil.  The  writer 
was  in  Dublin  at  the  time  and  asked  one  of  the 
officers  of  the  Irish  Volunteers  why  they  were 
so  enthusiastic  over  the  plan,  and  he  whispered : 
"Sure,  it  means  guns  for  us  to  fight  Carson's 
men  in  the  North,  who  have  guns,  and  we  know 
the  Germans  won't  invade  Ireland;  and  it  sends 
the  regular  soldiers  all  away  to  fill  the  trenches 
while  we  stay  home  and  'save  and  defend'  Ire- 
land." Needless  to  say,  the  government  re- 
fused to  heed  Mr.  Redmond's  appeal,  and  the 
regular  army  remains  on  the  island  to  nip  in- 
surrection and  rebellion  in  the  bud,  aided  by 
18,000  armed  government  constabulary  and 
5,000  retired  police.     Rebellion  without  arms 


Hopes  and  Fears  285 

would  be  abortive,  and  risings  would  prove  in- 
effective and  disastrous  to  well-meaning  but 
unfortunate  patriots,  who  would  be  quickly  shot 
down. 

As  England  controls  the  customs  and  all  ports 
on  the  island,  the  difficulty  of  obtaining  suf- 
ficient arms  to  effect  rebellions  is  well  nigh  in- 
superable. A  few  modern  rifles  and  machine 
guns  would  destroy  an  army  of  badly  armed 
men.  All  of  the  numerous  revolutions  in  Ire- 
land have  failed  for  want  of  preparedness. 
Traitors  and  informers  have  invariably  be- 
trayed the  leaders.  Lord  Edward  Fitzgerald, 
leader  in  1798,  was  betrayed  and  killed  before 
the  uprising  of  that  year.  The  two  famous 
brothers,  Henry  and  John  Sheares,  were  be- 
trayed and  hanged ;  they,  too,  were  arrested  be- 
fore the  uprising.  On  the  hills  of  Tara  in  1798 
a  body  of  insurgents,  4,000  strong,  mostly  un- 
armed, were  destroyed.  In  the  sections  of  the 
country  where  the  rebels  were  armed  and 
trained,  the  revolution  made  progress  and  the 
men  of  Wexford  held  the  gap  until  their  am- 
munition was  exhausted.  Of  course,  the  leaders 
were    hanged;    they    included    Father    John 


286    What  Could  Germany  Do  For  Ireland? 

Murphy,  Bagenal  Harvey,  and  Matthew  Keogh. 
The  troops  then  proceeded  to  kill  all  of  the  men 
and  women  they  could  find  in  the  section  of  the 
country  traversed  by  rebels.  There  was  lack 
of  strategy  and  concert  of  action.  The  move- 
ment in  the  North  was  delayed  awaiting  orders. 
The  County  Antrim  rebels,  under  Henry  Joy 
McCracken,  won  the  town  of  Antrim  after  an 
attack,  but  the  military  were  reinforced  and 
McCracken  was  taken  and  hanged  on  the  same 
day.  In  County  Down  the  rebels  captured 
Saintfield  under  Munro,  but  later  they  were  de- 
feated at  the  battle  of  Ballynahinch  and  Munro 
was  hanged  at  his  own  door.  After  the  rebel- 
lion had  been  crushed  the  French  sent  over  a 
force  of  about  a  thousand  men,  and  later  4,000, 
including  the  great  patriot,  Theobald  Wolfe 
Tone.  They  arrived  in  their  ships  off  Donegal, 
where  they  were  attacked  and  defeated  by  a 
superior  British  squadron.  Tone  was  sentenced 
to  be  hanged  but  begged  to  be  shot,  which  peti- 
tion being  denied  him,  he  cut  his  throat  with  a 
pen-knife.  Four  years  later,  Eobert  Emmet, 
relying  on  aid  from  Napoleon,  led  a  revolution 
of  a  few  hundred  men,  poorly  armed,  and  he 


Hopes  and  Fears  287 

was  hanged,  and  his  name  is  sacred  in  history. 
The  revolutions  of  1848  and  1865  have  been 
described  elsewhere.  In  every  case  there  was 
woeful  lack  of  arms  and  organization.  Ireland 
is  under  martial  law;  the  people  live  under  an 
arbitrary  statute  known  as  the  Defence  of  the 
Realm  Act,  and  a  citizen  has  only  to  criticize 
the  government  methods-  to  find  himself  im- 
prisoned or  run  out  of  the  country.  Free  speech 
and  a  free  press  do  not  exist  in  the  land. 


CHAPTER  XIX 

HOME  RULE  UNDER  THE  SPOT-LIGHTS 

The  Home  Rule  bill  provides  for  a  purely  local 
Parliament,  and  a  careful  reading  of  the  meas- 
ure proves  the  country  will  not  be  able  to  de- 
velop its  resources  under  its  terms.  American 
newspaper  editors  who  have  never  seen  a  copy 
of  the  bill  argue  as  though  the  act  was  as  broad 
and  liberal  as  the  laws  of  Canada  or  Australia, 
which  create  tariffs,  establish  shipping,  and  are 
self-governing,  aside  from  connection  with  the 
Crown  and  the- Privy  Council  solely  on  court  ap- 
peals. The  bill  is  certain  to  be  amended  with 
the  best  part  of  Ulster  left  out.  The  troops  re- 
cruited from  the  Orange  section  of  Ulster  will 
resist  the  execution  of  the  act.  They  will  have 
very  great  popular  support  in  England  on  the 
ground  that  they  have  shown  great  loyalty  and 
must  not  be  governed  by  the  other  section  of 
the  country  after  the  war.  There  are  new  finan- 
cial amendments  that  are  absolutely  necessary 
to  make  the  act  workable,  occasioned  by  the 


Home  Rule  Under  the  Spot-Lights      289 

changing  of  taxation  and  revenues  during  the 
war.  The  government  which  granted  the  meas- 
ure after  the  outbreak  of  war  (part  of  a  recruit- 
ing program)  has  broken  down,  and  is  not 
likely  to  be  returned  at  the  next  election.  The 
most  likely  compromise  measure  is  one  which 
will  leave  out  the  chief  industrial  boroughs  of 
Ulster,  and  such  a  measure  would  do  little  good, 
and  some  harm,  as  the  poorer  sections  of  Ire- 
land would  bear  the  whole  burden  of  the  new 
government. 
The  text  of  the  Home  Rule  Act  follows : 

Sept.  18,  1914 

An  Act  to  amend  the  provision  for  the  government 
of  Ireland. 

Be  it  enacted  by  the  King's  most  excellent  Majesty, 
by  and  with  the  advice  and  consent  of  the  Lords 
spiritual  and  temporal  and  Commons  in  this  present 
Parliament  assembled  and  by  the  authority  of  the 
same,  as  follows : 

LEGISLATIVE   AUTHORITY 

1.  On  and  after  the  appointed  day  there  shall  be 
in  Ireland  an  Irish  Parliament,  consisting  of  His 
Majesty  the  King  and  two  houses,  namely,  the  Irish 
Senate  and  the  Irish  House  of  Commons. 

2.  Notwithstanding  the  establishment  of  the  Irish 
Parliament  or  anything  contained  in  this  Act,  the 
supreme  power  and  authority  of  the  Parliament  of 
the  United  Kingdom  shall  remain  unaffected  and  un- 


290    What  Could  Germany  Do  For  Ireland? 

diminished  o  'er  all  persons,  matters  and  things  within 
His  Majesty's  dominions. 

The  Irish  Parliament  shall  not  have  power  to  make 
laws  in  respect  of  the  following  matters,  in  particu- 
lar, or  any  of  them,  namely : 

1.  The  Crown,  or  the  succession  to  the  Crown,  or  a 
Kegency  or  the  Lord  Lieutenant,  except  as  respects 
the  exercise  of  his  executive  power  in  relation  to  Irish 
services  as  defined  for  the  purposes  of  this  Act.  Or 
(2)  The  making  of  peace  or  war  or  matters  arising 
from  a  state  of  war  or  the  regulation  of  the  conduct 
of  any  portion  of  His  Majesty's  subjects  during  the 
existence  of  hostilities  between  foreign  states  with 
which  His  Majesty  is  at  peace  in  relation  to  those 
hostilities;  or  (3)  the  navy,  the  army,  the  territorial 
force  or  any  other  naval  or  military  force  or  the  de- 
fence of  the  realm,  or  any  other  naval  or  military 
matter;  or  (4)  treaties  of  any  relations  with  foreign 
states  or  relations  with  other  parts  of  His  Majesty's 
Dominions,  or  offences  connected  with  any  such 
treaties,  or  relations,  or  procedure  connected  with  the 
extradition  of  criminals  under  any  treaty,  or  the  re- 
turn of  fugitive  offenders  from  or  to  any  part  of  His 
Majesty's  Dominions;  or  (5)  dignities  or  titles  of 
honor;  or  (6)  treason,  felony,  alienage  naturalization, 
or  aliens  as  such;  or  (7)  trade  with  any  place  out  of 
Ireland  (except  so  far  as  trade  may  be  affected  by  the 
exercise  of  the  powers  of  taxation  given  to  the  Irish 
Parliament,  or  by  the  regulation  of  importation  for 
the  sole  purpose  of  preventing  contagious  disease), 
quarantine  or  navigation,  including  merchant  ship- 
ping (except  as  respects  inland  waters  and  local 
health  or  harbor  regulations)  ;  or  (8)  lighthouses, 
buoys  or  beacons  (except  so  far  as  they  can  consis- 
tently with  any  general  Act  of  the  Parliament  of  the 
United  Kingdom  be  constructed  or  maintained  by  a 
local  harbor  authority)  ;  or  (9)  coinage,  legal  tender, 
or  any  change  in  the  standard  of  weights  and  meas- 


Home  Rule  Under  the  Spot-Lights      291 

ures;  or  (10)  trade-marks,  designs,  merchandise 
marks,  copyright  or  patent  rights;  or  (11)  any  of  the 
following  matters  (in  this  Act  referred  to  as  reserved 
matters),  namely:  (a)  the  general  subject  matter  of 
the  Acts  relating  to  land  purchase  in  Ireland;  the 
Old  Age  Pension  Acts,  1908  and  1911;  the  National 
Insurance  Act,  1911 ;  and  the  Labor  Exchanges  Act, 
1909;  (b)  the  collection  of  taxes;  (c)  the  Royal  Irish 
Constabulary,  and  the  management  and  control  of 
that  force;  (d)  Post  Office  Savings  Banks,  Trustee 
Savings  Banks,  and  friendly  societies;  and  (e)  public 
loans  made  in  Ireland  before  the  passing  of  this  Act, 
provided  that  the  limitation  on  the  powers  of  the  Irish 
Parliament  under  this  section  shall  cease  as  respects 
any  such  reserved  matter  if  the  corresponding  re- 
served service  is  transferred  to  the  Irish  Government 
under  the  provisions  of  this  Act.  Any  law  made  in 
contravention  of  the  limitations  imposed  by  this  sec- 
tion shall  so  far  as  it  contravenes  those  limitations  be 
void. 

EXECUTIVE  AUTHORITY 

Clause  4. — (1)  The  Executive  power  in  Ireland 
shall  continue  vested  in  His  Majesty  the  King,  and 
nothing  in  this  Act  shall  affect  the  exercise  of  that 
power,  except  as  respects  Irish  services  as  defined  for 
the  purposes  of  this  Act.  (2)  As  respects  those  Irish 
services  the  Lord  Lieutenant  or  other  chief  executive 
officer  or  officers  for  the  time  being  appointed  in  his 
place  on  behalf  of  His  Majesty,  shall  exercise  any 
prerogative  or  other  executive  power  of  His  Majesty, 
the  exercise  of  which  may  be  delegated  to  him  by  His 
Majesty.  (3)  The  power  so  delegated  shall  be  ex- 
ercised through  such  Irish  departments  as  may  be  es- 
tablished by  Irish  Act  or  subject  thereto  by  the  Lord 
Lieutenant,  and  the  Lord  Lieutenant  may  appoint  of- 
ficers to  administer  those  departments,  and  those  of- 


292    What  Could  Germany  Do  For  Ireland? 

ficers  shall  hold  office  during  the  pleasure  of  the  Lord 
Lieutenant.  (4)  The  persons  who  are  for  the  time 
being  heads  of  such  Irish  departments  as  may  be  de- 
termined by  Irish  Act  or  in  the  absence  of  any  such 
determination  by  the  Lord  Lieutenant  and  such  other 
persons  (if  any)  as  the  Lord  Lieutenant  may  appoint, 
shall  be  the  Irish  Ministers. 

IRISH  PARLIAMENT 

1.  There  shall  be  a  session  of  the  Irish  Parliament 
once  at  least  in  every  year. 

2.  The  Lord  Lieutenant  shall  in  His  Majesty's 
name  summon  and  prorogue  and  dissolve  the  Irish 
Parliament. 

7.  The  Lord  Lieutenant  shall  give  or  withhold  the 
consent  of  His  Majesty  to  bills  passed  by  the  two 
Houses  of  the  Irish  Parliament,  subject  to  the  follow- 
ing limitations,  namely:  (1)  He  shall  comply  with 
any  instructions  given  by  His  Majesty  the  King  in 
respect  of  any  such  bill;  and  (2)  he  shall,  if  so  di- 
rected by  the  King,  postpone  giving  the  assent  of  His 
Majesty  to  any  such  bill  presented  to  him  for  assent 
for  such  period  as  His  Majesty  may  direct. 

The  merest  tyro  in  reading  legislative  acts 
will  see  the  pitfalls,  handicaps  and  manacles  in- 
cluded in  the  foregoing  measure.  The  arms  of 
the  people  are  fettered.  There  can  be  no  hope 
of  new  industries  under  an  act  which  prohibits 
the  government  from  exercising  any  control 
over  every  essential  element  that  might  tend  to 
revive  industry  and  create  or  distribute  wealth. 


Home  Rule  Under  the  Spot-Lights     293 

Here  follow  some  of  the  restrictions  in  the 
Home  Eule  Act,  in  addition,  which  plainly  pre- 
vent the  freedom  of  Ireland  in  essentials : 

The  Irish  Parliament  or  people  cannot  nomi- 
nate or  elect  the  Lord  Lieutenant  who  is  the 
Governor  of  Ireland  under  the  act. 

No  provision  can  be  made  by  the  Irish  Gov- 
ernment for  the  defense  of  the  country. 

If  England  was  at  war  with  the  United 
States,  Ireland,  under  this  act,  would  also  be  at 
war  with  the  United  States,  although  the  Irish 
Parliament  and  people  would  certainly  have  no 
difference  with  the  land  which  has  given  them 
shelter,  prosperity  and  honors. 

The  Irish  Government  cannot  raise  an  army. 
Under  the  act,  the  Irish  Volunteers,  therefore, 
must  disband. 

Ireland  would  be  prohibited  from  making 
trade  and  commercial  treaties  with  the  United 
States  and  other  countries. 

As  in  the  days  of  the  Navigation  Acts,  which 
enabled  England  to  destroy  Irish  shipping,  the 
Home  Rule  Bill  again  clinches  the  strangle  hold 
on  a  possible  Irish  merchant  marine  by  prevent- 
ing the  Irish  Government  from  "granting  of 


294    What  Could  Germany  Do  For  Ireland? 

bounties  on  the  export  of  goods,  quarantine,  or 
navigation,  including  merchant  shipping.' ' 

Canada,  Australia,  South  Africa,  New  Zea- 
land, and  other  British  colonies  have  their  own 
postage  and  revenue  stamps  and  mint  their  own 
coins;  all  this  is  expressly  prohibited  by  the 
Home  Rule  Act. 

When  the  doors  of  the  Irish  Parliament  are 
thrown  open  for  the  first  time,  the  then  Irish 
Government  will  have  no  power  over: 

(a)  Land  Purchase  in  Ireland,  the  Old  Age  Pen- 
sions, the  National  Insurance  Act,  and  the  Labor  Ex- 
changes Acts.  These  remain  under  the  control  of  the 
British  Parliament. 

(b)  The  Irish  Government  cannot  collect  the  taxes 
levied  on  the  people  of  Ireland.  England,  under 
Clause  2  of  Section  14,  will  appoint  and  control  the 
tax  collectors,  and  keep  the  accounts  and  the  cash, 
graciously  handing  back  just  sufficient  to  pay  for 
Irish  services.  The  English  Treasury  now  charges 
Ireland  with  contributing  less  than  is  expended  in  the 
country.  Under  the  new  system,  the  charge  can  be 
maintained  and  possibly  proved,  as  England  is  to  do 
the  bookkeeping.  Anyway,  England  will  have  the 
cash,  and  he  who  holds  the  purse  is  finally  supreme 
in  all  matters.  He  who  pays  controls — except  in  Ire- 
land. 

(3)  The  Irish  Government  will  not  control  the  po- 
lice force  in  Ireland,  though  the  Irish  people  pay  for 
their  upkeep.  This  force  has  always  been  part  of 
England's  armed  garrison  in  Ireland.    England  will 


Home  Rule  Under  the  Spot-Lights      295 

continue  to  control  this  force  for  six  years  after  the 
initiation  of  the  Irish  Parliament,  so  as  to  ensure  that 
the  behavior  of  the  Irish  people,  aye,  and  of  Irish  leg- 
islators, is  all  that  she  could  desire.  The  mandarins 
of  the  Irish  Constabulary  will  still  continue  to  ter- 
rorize the  unarmed  people  of  Ireland. 

(d)  The  Irish  Government  will  have  no  authority 
or  control  over  the  Post  Office  Savings  Banks,  Trustee 
Savings  Banks,  and  Friendly  Societies  in  Ireland. 
And  for  a  very  good  reason.  England  wants  the  use 
of  Irish  monies  for  the  development  of  her  own  re- 
sources. Close  upon  $80,000,000,  being  deposits  in 
Post  Office  and  Trustee  Savings  Banks  in  Ireland,  the 
savings  of  her  people,  are  transferred  to  England  for 
investment  in  Government  securities.  This  grave  eco- 
nomic injury  to  Ireland  will  have  to  continue,  even 
though  a  "Home  Kule"  Parliament  sits  in  Dublin, 
for  it  is  laid  down  in  the  Act  that  such  institutions 
cannot  come  under  the  control  of  the  Irish  Parlia- 
ment until  the  Irish  Parliament,  both  Houses,  passes 
a  resolution  to  that  effect,  nor  even  then  until  a 
period  of  ten  years  has  elapsed  from  the  appointed 
day.  What  these  government  securities,  in  which 
these  $80,000,000  Irish  savings  have  been  wrongfully 
invested,  may  be  now  worth  is  conjectural  in  the  ex- 
treme. But  Ireland  cannot  have  the  use  of  her  own 
money  for  many  years  after  the  Irish  Parliament  has 
come  into  being. 

(e)  The  Irish  Parliament  cannot  interfere  with 
public  loans  made  in  Ireland  before  the  passing  of  the 
Act. 


And  to  the  foot  of  these  twelve  clauses  of 
Section  2  of  the  act  the  following  is  appended : 
"Any  law  made  in  contravention  of  the  limita- 


296    What  Could  Germany  Do  For  Ireland? 

tions  imposed  by  this  section  shall,  so  far  as  it 
contravenes  those  limitations,  be  void." 

Section  4  lays  it  down  that  it  is  the  Lord  Lieu- 
tenant, and  not  the  Irish  Government,  who  will 
appoint  officers  to  administer  Irish  Depart- 
ments established  by  the  act,  and  those  officers 
shall  hold  office  during  the  pleasure  of  the  Lord 
Lieutenant,  and  not  during  the  pleasure  of  the 
Irish  Parliament.  Furthermore,  it  is  such  of- 
ficers who  will  form  the  Irish  Ministry  and  "be 
an  Executive  Committee  of  the  Privy  Council 
of  Ireland,  to  aid  and  advise  the  Lord  Lieu- 
tenant in  the  exercise  of  his  executive  power  in 
relation  to  Irish  services."  Also,  the  Lord 
Lieutenant  can  appoint  other  persons  as  Irish 
Ministers,  though  they  may  not  be  heads  of 
Irish  Departments.  Whilst  clause  (a)  of  this 
section  lays  it  down  that  only  members  of  the 
Privy  Council  of  Ireland  can  become  Irish  Min- 
isters, or  heads  of  Irish  Departments  under  the 
Irish  Parliament,  even  Mr.  John  Redmond  and 
his  colleagues  are  not,  at  present,  eligible  to 
hold  office  as  Irish  Ministers,  since  they  have 
not  the  magic  letters  "P.  C."  after  their  names. 
That  is  the  least  honor,  no  doubt,  which  the 


Home  Rule  Under  the  Spot-Lights      297 

Castle  will  bestow  upon  Mr.  Redmond  for  his 
faithful  services  on  behalf  of  the  permanence 
of  British  rule  in  Ireland.  But,  under  this  pro- 
vision, the  Castle  will  be  in  a  position  to  extract 
full  allegiance  to  the  British  Crown  and  Consti- 
tution from  such  Irish  miscalled  nationalists 
whom  John  Redmond  may  subserviently  ask  the 
Lord  Lieutenant  to  appoint  as  heads  of  Irish 
Departments. 

Section  8  expressly  states  that  the  first  Irish 
Senate  of  forty  members  shall  be  nominated  by 
the  Lord  Lieutenant,  subject  to  any  instructions 
given  by  His  Majesty  in  respect  to  the  nomina- 
tion. Here  it  is  secured  that  the  upper  house 
of  the  new  Irish  Parliament  shall  at  the  outset 
consist  of  creatures  of  Castle  Rule  in  Ireland. 
No  doubt,  England's  faithful  garrison  in  Ire- 
land will  be  rewarded  with  a  majority  of  the 
seats  in  this  chamber.  Anyway,  those  so  nomi- 
nated will  feel  constrained  to  act  solely  in  Eng- 
land's interest  during  their  period  of  office. 
The  "Home  Rule"  Parliament  must  be  piloted 
through  its  earlier  years  by  the  tried  and  true 
upholders  of  British  domination  in  Ireland. 
The  Irish  people  cannot  be  trusted,  even  under 


298    What  Could  Germany  Do  For  Ireland? 

a  '  *  Home  Eule ' '  Parliament,  to  remain  loyal  to 
English  institutions  in  Ireland. 

Section  10,  clause  (2)  declares  that  except  in 
pursuance  of  a  recommendation  from  the  Lord 
Lieutenant,  the  Irish  House  of  Commons  shall 
not  adopt  or  pass  any  vote,  resolution,  address 
or  bill  for  the  appropriation,  for  any  purpose, 
of  any  part  of  the  public  revenue  of  Ireland  or 
of  any  tax.  Here  is  "Poyning's  Law"  re- 
peated, except  in  so  far  as  the  Lord  Lieutenant 
is  substituted  for  the  English  Privy  Council. 
The  last  Irish  Parliament  (1782-1800)  had  com- 
plete control  of  Irish  taxation,  revenue  and 
trade.  This  "Home  Eule"  Parliament  yet-to- 
be  cannot  initiate  measures  for  the  betterment 
of  Irish  conditions  unless  the  Lord  Lieutenant 
directs  and  approves. 

Section  15  debars  the  Irish  Parliament  from 
imposing  or  charging  a  customs  duty,  whether 
an  import  or  an  export  duty,  or  varying,  except 
by  way  of  addition,  any  customs  duty  levied  as 
an  Imperial  tax,  or  any  excise  duty  so  levied 
where  there  is  a  corresponding  customs  duty. 
That  is  to  say,  so  long  as  free  trade  suits  Eng- 
lish conditions,  so  long  must  Ireland  remain 


Home  Ride  Under  the  Spot-Lights     299 

under  the  same  fiscal  laws,  whether  free  trade, 
as  such,  suits  Irish  conditions  or  otherwise. 
Furthermore,  should  the  English  Parliament 
change  from  free  trade  to  a  protective  or  tariffs 
for-revenue  country,  Ireland  must  follow  suit, 
whether  such  a  change  may  or  may  not  suit 
Irish  economic  needs  and  requirements.  Fur- 
thermore, this  section  makes  it  very  clear  that 
at  no  time  can  the  Irish  Parliament  protect 
Irish  industries  from  the  unfair  competition  in 
Ireland  of  Manchester  products,  and  English 
manufactures  generally.  Ireland  and  Irish 
trade  and  commerce  do  not  count  under  an  Irish 
Parliament.  At  least,  so  says  England,  and 
John  Redmond  has,  to  his  eternal  shame,  ac- 
quiesced in  this  betrayal  of  Irish  industries. 
But,  of  course,  if  the  Irish  Parliament  chooses 
to  tax  Irish  industries  out  of  existence,  the  act 
leaves  the  way  clear  for  the  Irish  Government 
so  to  do. 

Section  22  creates  a  Joint  Exchequer  Board, 
consisting  of  two  members  appointed  by  the 
British  Treasury  and  two  members  appointed 
by  the  Irish  Treasury,  and  a  chairman  ap- 
pointed by  His  Majesty.    The  appointment  of 


300    What  Could  Germany  Do  For  Ireland? 

the  chairman  by  the  English  Government  gives 
England  a  majority  on  the  Joint  Exchequer 
Board.  Thus  England  protects  her  own  inter- 
ests for  all  time.  Mr.  Eedmond  and  his  fol- 
lowers allowed  this  clause  to  be  inserted  in  the 
act  without  challenge  or  protest.  It  gives  Eng- 
land the  whip  hand  every  time,  as  ' '  the  decision 
of  the  Board  on  any  matter  which  is  to  be  de- 
termined by  them  shall  be  final  and  conclusive. ' ' 
And  the  smooth  working  of  the  whole  Irish  Par- 
liament depends  altogether  upon  the  finances 
available  for  Irish  services.  Points  of  dispute 
will  assuredly  arise  from  time  to  time,  but  ma- 
jority rule  will  prevail,  and  Ireland's  two  rep- 
resentatives will  be  powerless  against  Eng- 
land's three. 

Sections  28  and  29  recognize  the  right  of  an 
individual  to  contest  a  decision  of  the  Irish  Su- 
preme Court  by  carrying  the  same  to  His 
Majesty  the  King  in  Council,  that  is,  to  the 
Privy  Council  of  England,  and  where  an  indi- 
vidual may  claim  that  an  act  of  the  Irish  Par- 
liament, or  any  provision  thereof,  or  any  Irish 
bill  or  provision  thereof,  is  beyond  the  powers 
of  the  Irish  Parliament,  or  whether  any  service 


Home  Rule  Under  the  Spot-Lights     301 

is  an  Irish  service  within  the  meaning  of  the 
act  or  not,  same  may  be  represented  to  the  Eng- 
lish Privy  Council  for  determination.  Thus 
England  ingeniously  sets  a  pitfall  for  the  se- 
curity of  the  new  Irish  Parliament.  England's 
word  will  be  final  in  all  matters,  notwithstand- 
ing the  existence  of  the  Home  Rule  Parliament 
in  Dublin.  Thus  any  crank  in  the  country  can 
call  in  question  every  act  of  the  new  Irish  Par- 
liament, and  by  appealing  to  Mother  England, 
embitter  feeling  in  Ireland  and  spread  a  dis- 
trust and  disregard  of  the  legality  of  Irish  acts 
throughout  the  whole  country.  Thus  it  may, 
under  this  cleverly  worded  section,  be  shown 
that  the  Irish  are  incapable  of  ruling  them- 
selves, as  has  been  so  freely  stated  by  their  en- 
emies. 

But,  as  if  all  these  restrictions,  reservations, 
etc.,  were  not  sufficiently  clear  indications  of 
England's  determination  to  have  the  Irish  Par- 
liament subordinate  to  the  Parliament  at  Lon- 
don, clause  (2)  of  the  very  first  section  of  the 
act  declares  that  "notwithstanding  the  estab- 
lishment of  the  Irish  Parliament  or  anything 
contained  in  the  Government  of  Ireland  Act, 


302    What  Could  Germany  Do  For  Ireland? 

1914,  the  supreme  power  and  authority  of  the 
Parliament  of  the  United  Kingdom  shall  remain 
unaffected  and  undiminished  over  all  persons, 
matters,  and  things  in  Ireland  and  every  part 
thereof.' '  Furthermore,  clause  (1)  of  section 
4  stipulates  that  "the  executive  power  in  Ire- 
land shall  continue  vested  in  His  Majesty  the 
King,  and  nothing  in  this  act  shall  affect  the 
exercise  of  that  power  except  as  respects  Irish 
services  as  defined  for  the  purposes  of  the  act." 
Again,  as  if  emphasizing  the  unimportance  of 
the  Irish  legislature,  section  7  of  the  act  em- 
powers the  Lord  Lieutenant  to  give  or  withhold 
the  assent  of  His  Majesty  to  bills  passed  by 
the  two  houses  of  the  Irish  Parliament,  subject 
to  the  following  limitations,  namely: 

(a)  He  shall  comply  with  any  instructions  given  by 
His  Majesty  in  respect  of  any  such  Bill ;  and 

(b)  He  shall,  if  so  directed  by  His  Majesty,  post- 
pone giving  the  assent  of  His  Majesty  to  any  such 
Bill  presented  to  him  for  assent  for  such  period  as 
His  Majesty  may  direct. 

Verily,  if  His  Britannic  Majesty  (which,  of 
course,  means  His  Majesty's  English  advisers 
or  government)  chooses  to  hang  up  indefinitely 
any  bill  of  the  Irish  Parliament,  there  is  no  au- 


Home  Ride  Under  the  Spot-Lights      303 

thority  in  the  Home  Rule  Act  to  turn  the  Irish 
bill  into  an  Irish  act.  Yet,  fearing  that  the 
Irish  Parliament  might  invent  a  means  to  es- 
cape the  legal  labyrinth  of  restrictions  con- 
tained in  the  act,  section  41  expressly  lays  it 
down  that  ' '  the  Irish  Parliament  shall  not  have 
power  to  repeal  or  alter  any  provision  of  this 
act  (except  as  is  specially  provided  by  this  act), 
or  of  any  act  passed  by  the  Parliament  of  the 
United  Kingdom  after  the  passing  of  this  act, 
and  extending  to  Ireland,  although  that  pro- 
vision deals  with  a  matter  with  respect  to  which 
the  Irish  Parliament  have  powers  to  make 
laws. ' '  And  lest,  by  any  chance,  this  happy  lan- 
guage might  be,  by  any  possibility,  vague  or 
open  to  a  construction  other  than  that  intended, 
clause  (2)  of  the  same  section  adds  that  "  where 
any  act  of  the  Irish  Parliament  deals  with  any 
matter  with  respect  to  which  the  Irish  Parlia- 
ment have  power  to  make  laws  which  is  dealt 
with  by  any  act  of  the  Parliament  of  the  United 
Kingdom  passed  after  the  passing  of  this  act 
and  extending  to  Ireland,  the  act  of  the  Irish 
Parliament  shall  be  read  subject  to  the  act  of 
the  Parliament  of  the  United  Kingdom,  and  so 


304    What  Could  Germany  Do  For  Ireland? 

far  as  it  is  repugnant  to  that  act,  but  no  fur- 
ther, shall  be  void."  These  two  clauses  of  sec- 
tion 41,  to  which  very  little  attention  has  been 
paid  by  the  parliamentarians  in  Ireland,  undo 
the  whole  "Government  of  Ireland  Act,  1914, ' ' 
since  this  section  clearly  stipulates  that  the 
London  Parliament  can  continue  making  laws 
to  govern  the  people  of  Ireland,  without  any 
regard  to  or  respect  for  the  existence  of  the 
Parliament  at  Dublin,  or  the  laws  framed  by 
the  Irish  Parliament.  Thus  England  honors 
her  own  "scrap  of  paper"  by  making  provision 
in  the  Home  Eule  Act  to  the  effect  that  laws 
framed  and  passed  in  England  can  be  enforced 
by  statute  in  Ireland.  This  is  but  a  cursory 
glance  at  this  precious  "Home  Rule  Act,"  now 
on  the  statute  book  of  Westminster,  which 
weak  and  false  leaders  have  accepted  as  "  a  final 
settlement, ' '  and  for  which  they  ask  their  coun- 
trymen to  sacrifice  their  lives  and  the  future 
of  their  nation  in  the  trenches  of  Europe  and 
Asia.  The  one  thankful  feature  of  the  ugly 
situation  is  that  Irishmen  have  begun  to  realize 
the  sham  and  farce  of  the  whole  proceedings, 
and  that  the  financial  condition  of  England  is 


Home  Rule  Under  the  Spot-Lights     305 

such  that  this  wretched  measure  of  "Home 
Bule"  cannot  be  put  into  operation  after  the 
war. 


CONCLUSION 

"No,  I  do  not  despair  of  my  country.  I  see 
her  in  lethargy,  but  not  in  the  throes  of  death. 
She  is  not  dead,  but  only  sleeping."- — Henry 
Grattan. 

[We  must  not  become  discouraged  over  the  ap- 
parent abject,  supine  and  helpless  condition  of 
the  people  of  Ireland.  The  heart  of  the  people 
is  sound  and  beats  true.  They  have  no  sources 
of  information  beyond  the  medium  of  the  official 
censored  press  bureau ;  the  island,  from  end  to 
end,  lives  under  the  Defence  of  the  Realm  Act, 
which,  for  all  practical  purposes,  is  martial  law. 
They  read  no  printed  word  or  hear  no  spoken 
word  save  the  false  notes  which  aim  to  convince 
the  Irish  race  that  the  Germans  are  like  the 
ruthless  Huns  and  barbarians,  who  will  not  hes- 
itate to  kill  their  women  and  children.  The 
leaders  who  have  betrayed  the  land  for  offices, 
honors,  munition  orders,  war  billets,  social, 
legal  or  business  advancement  have  one  false 
but  effective  cry,  for  they  never  tire  of  ringing 
the  changes  on  the  appeal  to  the  poor  people  to 

306 


Conclusion  307 

go  off  to  the  Dardanelles,  to  Flanders,  to  the 
Balkans,  to  suffer  and  die  in  order  that  Catholic 
Ireland  shall  be  revenged  on  Germany  for  the 
destruction  of  Catholic  Belgium.  That  such  a 
red  herring  could  be  successfully  dragged 
across  the  trail  of  Irish  Nationality  is  a  sad 
commentary  on  the  low  spirit,  benumbed  senses 
and  lack  of  reasoning  powers  of  sections  of  the 
race,  only  the  inevitable  result  of  several  cen- 
turies of  suffering  and  oppression. 

What  earthly  practical  interest  have  the  Irish 
in  saving  Belgium  or  Serbia  when  they  cannot 
save  themselves  and  put  Ireland  on  the  map  of 
small  nations?  Are  they  still  so  blind  as  not  to 
recognize  the  death  of  both  Belgium  and  Serbia, 
whatever  the  outcome  of  the  war?  The  sur- 
render of  Antwerp  exposed  the  hand  of  Eng- 
land, which  had  only  sent  a  few  thousand  men 
to  the  relief  of  Belgium,  basely  deserting  the 
brave  little  army,  by  failure  of  a  supporting 
army,  in  her  hour  of  agony,  after  forcing  her 
by  threats  to  resist  Germany.  The  world  sees 
the  Serbian  armies  destroyed  and  this  small  na- 
tion ruined  despite  the  British  promises  of  as- 
sistance,  which  were  not  fulfilled.     We   see 


308    What  Could  Germany  Do  For  Ireland? 

Greece  invaded  and  her  cities  threatened  with 
bombardment  because  she  insists  on  being  neu- 
tral. The  remnants  of  the  Celtic  race  should  be 
as  much  concerned  over  the  fate  of  Greece  at 
the  hands  of  England,  and  of  Persia  under  Bus- 
sia,  as  to  worry  over  the  state  of  Belgium  or 
Serbia.  The  Irish  people  should  think  more  of 
their  own  possibly  wretched  fate  after  the  war. 
The  British  Empire  is  simply  made  up  of  a 
confederation  of  states  and  territories  con- 
quered by  England  and  the  strangest  delusion 
is  the  absurd  fetish  that  she  is  the  saviour  of 
small  nations.  The  immediate  fate  of  Belgium, 
Serbia,  Macedonia  and  Persia  at  this  hour  ought 
to  force  the  blinders  off  Irish  eyes. 

The  author  has  shown  there  can  be  no  hope 
for  an  industrial  Ireland  under  the  domination 
of  England.  The  defeat  and  the  consequent  ex- 
haustion of  the  British  Empire  may  be  followed 
by  its  disintegration.  Such  result  is  not  impos- 
sible in  the  light  of  history,  wherein  is  found  the 
roll  of  world  powers  extinguished  by  internal 
diseases  and  external  foes.  The  war  between 
England  and  France  enabled  America  to  dis- 
cover a  George  Washington  to  liberate  the  col- 


Conclusion  309 

onists  from  the  thralldom  of  English  rule.  The 
eternal  sentinels  of  liberty  guarded  the  peaks 
of  little  Switzerland  while  her  children  took  ad- 
vantage of  the  warring  nations  surrounding  her 
to  bring  freedom  to  her  valleys  and  mountains. 
Will  the  decimated  race,  threatened  with  its 
utter  extinction,  produce  a  chieftain  in  Ireland 
who  will  lead  the  clans  to  the  heights  of  liberty 
and  save  the  submerging  of  the  people  in  this 
unholy  and  unjust  war  designed  to  destroy  the 
youth  of  a  land  fated  not  to  receive  any  national 
benefit  even  in  victory,  and  the  only  certainty — 
Death? 


SEVENTH    EDITION 

The  most  widely  circulated  war  book  of  the  year 

The  King,  The  Kaiser^Irish  Freedom 

By  JAMES  K.  McGUIRE 

320  Pages.       Cloth  Bound.     One  Dollar,  Postpaid 

The  work  is  prohibited  from  circulation  in  Ireland  and  Canada. 
All  Americans  should  read  it. 

Los  Angeles  Examiner — The  book  is  a  strong  presentation  and  well  worth 
study.  Over  here  we  hear  little  of  this  because  Ireland  is  under  martial  law, 
the  press  is  rigidly  censored  and  any  expression  of  opinion  unpleasant  to  the 
government  is  followed  by  immediate  arrest. 

New  York  Staats-Zeitung — The  German-American  citizens  owe  much  to  the 
brilliant  genius  of  Mr.  McGuire  in  his  great  work,  which  will  live  long  after 
the  war. 

New  Haven  Union — Written  in  a  wonderfully  fascinating  style  and,  by  far, 
the  most  powerful  and  pleasing  and  often  stirring  appeal  for  Germany  and  an 
Irish  Republic. 

Ireland,  Dublin — A  few  copies  reached  Donegal,  Mayo  and  Galway.  They 
were  at  once  seized  and  destroyed  and  the  distributers  arrested. 

Cologne  German  Gazette — This  striking  story  is  being  printed  in  Germany 
and  will  have  enormous  circulation. 

Independent,  Butte,  Montana — By  far,  this  is  the  most  popular  and  powerful 
plea  for  justice  to  Germany  that  has  appeared  in  book  form. 

San  Francisco  Chronicle — The  writer  shows  that  England  has  no  intention 
of  giving  Ireland  Home  Rule,  and  that  in  the  future,  as  in  the  past,  she  will 
corrupt  the  leaders  of  the  Irish  cause.  The  book  has  a  number  of  historical 
^acts,  but  the  writer  appears  to  be  suffering  from  excessive  hatred  of  England. 

Western  Watchman,  St.  Louis,  Mo. — "The  King,  the  Kaiser  and  Irish  Free- 
dom" is  attracting  more  attention.  The  majority  of  thinking  Irishmen  are  read- 
ing with  newer  and  more  enthusiastic  hopes. 

The  Irish  World,  New  York — This  book  is  most  opportune  and  right  up  to 
the  minute.  It  should  be  in  the  hands  of  every  man  who  desires  to  know  the 
real  condition  of  affairs  in  Europe.  The  author  is  a  realist  of  the  first  water 
and  speaks  to  a  great  extent  from  experience;  an  extensive  traveler  of  many 
accomplishments.  The  work  is  readable  as  a  novel,  and  the  interest  never  flags 
from  start  to  finish. 

Pittsburgh  Leader — This  work  has  attracted  tremendous  interest  throughout 
the  State  of  Pennsylvania,  and  is  a  work  replete  with  interest. 

Pittsburgh  Dispatch — The  Germanest  German  document  that  has  appeared 
since  the  war  began  is  written  by  a  man  without  German  blood  in  his  veins. 

Hartford  Courant — He  adroitly  and  with  much  truth  credits  England  with 
much  subtler  diplomacy  than  her  enemies.  He  makes  a  point  when  he  quotes 
approval  of  the  fine  practice  of  American  guns,  when  in  '48  the  tower  was  hit 
of  the  Vera  Cruz  Cathedral,  and  the  condemnations  which  were  showered  on 
German  artillerists  for  destruction  at  Rheims. 

Louisville  Courier- Journal — The  author  made  a  serious  mistake  in  confining 
the  work  to  one  volume.  He  shows  his  familiarity  with  both  subjects  and 
handles  them  in  an  able  manner.  Many  interesting  events  are  related  in 
different  parts  of  the  volume. 


Date 

Due 

JUN  -2  66 

! 

Kin\/    4 

n  ortft** 

NOV    1 

0  2003 

JAN  1 

J  2008 

/ 


169563 


BOSTON  COLLEGE  LIBRARY 

UNIVERSITY  HEIGHTS 

CHESTNUT  HILL,  MASS. 


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